


Playing with Fire

by Miss_Murdered



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, M/M, Sexual Content, Violence, gangster au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-27
Updated: 2014-07-14
Packaged: 2018-01-26 18:12:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 25,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1697744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Murdered/pseuds/Miss_Murdered
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haru is an art student who just happens to bump into Rin. From that meeting, a complicated relationship begins to flourish which is made more complex by the fact that Rin is "the Shark" - a famous gangster. Based on Thora-Hathi's Gangster AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Guy with the Shark Tattoo

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is based on the wonderful Thora-Hathi's art and her gangster AU idea. I'd like to thank her for letting me work on her baby and a massive thanks to Karratran for beta-ing and discussing things with me. As well as naming this fic. 
> 
> This is going to be a long fic (15 - 20 chapters) and I intend to do weekly updates with a chapter from Haru's POV and then Rin's. 
> 
> So that's enough from me - on with the show!

The queue for coffee was far too long and Haru bobbed on the balls of his feet as he waited. He needed coffee, as he was unable to remember the last time he’d slept, the approaching show of his art work was making him anxious, and his hands still covered a little in blue paint, the residue underneath his nails.

The line seemed to take an eternity as Haru tried to wipe any remains of paint onto his splattered and stained jeans but it was pretty useless. He was always covered in paint. Part of being an art student, he supposed. Especially considering he was an oil painting major.

Finally, Haru was able to order, needing the biggest size and the strongest coffee, asking for an extra shot of espresso. He didn’t want some fancy coffee with foam and sprinkles – he wanted pure caffeine and he paid, mumbling a “thanks” under his breath, giving his name to the sparkly eyed cheerful barista and he leaned against the counter, waiting for his coffee to be delivered.

After all the work he’d been doing the past few days, he really should go back to his apartment, the apartment his parents had left him, the large windows  and his big queen sized bed. But then Haru sighed at the thought; Makoto would be at the apartment, wearing his glasses, nose in books, him being an English major. He’d invited his childhood friend to live with him, wanted the company and not just walk around his parents’ place like a ghost. Makoto would tell Haru to sleep and rest and nag him about eating properly, but Haru didn’t want to sleep or eat, all he wanted to do was paint.

Paint what he saw when he closed his eyes, when he remembered being a kid, carefree, lying on his back in the ocean, feeling it lap around his body as he laid back, floating weightless. Paint those perfect moments of his life where he was safe, free, swimming in the depths of the ocean, tasting the salt on his lips and breathing in the sea air. That was when everything had been perfect, and when he stood with a canvas in front of him, he wanted to recreate that moment, disappear in it and breathe inside it. It had been a family vacation before… before…

“Haru!” came the shout and he blinked, looking up and grabbing the large cardboard cup, feeling the heat in his palm and his fingers stained it blue, the heat and a slight sweatiness to his palms making it bleed.

He left the coffee shop, walking a little lazily, his gaze far away and he walked without paying attention. Haru had loved water since childhood, since he and Makoto had lived in Iwatobi and he had loved to swim. Not just in pools but in the ocean, feeling the way the waves made it harder, more difficult, the pull making each stroke seem better, bigger and Haru was thinking about that as he took sips of too hot coffee. That love of swimming, of water, was what inspired his work and he was thinking about that as he strolled.

Not really paying attention, Haru thought about Makoto giving him that concerned green eyed stare and contemplated taking the subway back to their place, avoiding him as best as he could and slinking into his own bed and sleeping for a few hours and then travel back towards the Academy to finish up his pieces. But that sounded like too much effort, effort he was not going to go through, so Haru, instead, walked aimlessly, trying to get some fresh air, walking down the streets thinking of how he could make the water in one of his large canvases more real… more beautiful.

And he was thinking this, looking up at the blue sky of a sunny morning, thinking of the pigments when his shoulder bumped into something solid, his coffee splashing over a body and Haru was suddenly thrown against a wall of a nearby store with force, a hand against his upper chest.

The action was violent and Haru pushed back, his hand making it worse as the heat of the coffee cup had made the paint pigments loosen on his fingers and as he pushed against the guy’s chest, he left an imprint over the coffee stain of his blue tinged hand.

“You’ve got to be kiddin’ me!”

Haru looked up and down the guy’s body then, seeing how he had dumped an entire cup of black coffee on a white shirt and then left a large blue hand print. Yeah, it did look bad but Haru wasn’t going to be pushed around and so he was glad he’d fought back even when he met the eye of the man in front of him and saw a very pissed off expression.

“This is a new shirt, asshole.”

“I’m a student,” Haru said automatically as though that explained everything. As to him, it did. It was why he had no money, why he wouldn’t be able to pay for it. “An art one.”

The art part was to clarify that he’d be even less likely to have money and the guy’s expression softened as he looked at Haru. The softening expression and the moment of hostility passing meant that Haru could now level his gaze at his face, seeing startling coloured eyes, seeming almost red, and a bright shock of hair that seemed a damn impossible colour. It was one Haru could paint, not see on someone, and he took a small breath in when he got a smile, a smile that was a smirk, a quirk of lips and almost showed a hint of danger. Haru’s heart started beating as that _look_ was more intimidating than the violence. It was like he was going to be devoured, like he was prey and Haru unconsciously shuddered from the intense stare and attention he was getting from the guy.

“Then don’t worry,” he said and he began to unbutton the shirt in the street.

Haru’s eyes widened at the display until he realized the guy had a black tank top underneath, the material tight and clinging to every part of the guys torso and Haru stared for a second at the way it hugged his abs, his pectoral muscles, how it stopped to show his collarbones and then how his biceps bulged as he one hand held the shirt and the other became lodged in his pocket. The pocket of some tight fitting jeans with frayed ends and holes. Haru swallowed.

He’d always liked guys, and this guy, while being hostile, was about his own age and well, hot. But Haru buried that thought. Shit. No time for that sort of thing even if he’d not just poured coffee and left blue paint on someone’s fancy ass shirt. And dating was a big pain anyway – he’d had a few college flings but nothing more as it was awkward screwing anyone with Makoto next door or running behind the backs of other people’s roommates. Childhood best friends did not need to hear their other childhood friend fucking.

But that was all stupid and he saw the guy reach for his hand, Haru noticing a large shark tattoo on his shoulder, a solid outline in black, and Haru took it.

“I’m Rin,” he said simply, “since you ruined my shirt and I spilled your coffee, I guess we’re even, right?”

The smirk then was large and for some reason, Haru imagined he had pointed teeth and he felt Rin’s large, a little calloused and warm hand. And how he’d also left blue paint on it.

“Haru.”

Rin gave him a little nod and looked at his paint stained hand, wiping it on his already stained shirt. “I owe you a coffee, right?”

“I can’t afford a shirt,” Haru replied, his face remaining neutral.

The response was a laugh, something that surprised Haru due to the circumstance of their meeting, the violent way Rin’s hands had grabbed for his shoulders, holding him tight, feeling the power in those muscles.

“You don’t have to… do you want another coffee or not?”

Haru noted the slightly abrupt way he was asked, confrontational and he still _needed_ coffee, he’d taken a few sips and that was it so he needed the high of caffeine. So he nodded.

“My treat,” Rin said with that smirk again and he stepped away, starting to walk down the street.

He stalled for a moment, seeing how the tight tank met tight jeans, how that hair, bright and vibrant red, was tied back in a little ponytail, the large sneakers as Rin turned around noticing he’d not followed.

“You coming or not, Haru?”

With that, Haru caught him up, walking beside him, glancing again at that large shark tattoo as Rin carried his shirt in his hand.

They passed a trash bin and without care Rin threw his soiled shirt in and Haru wanted to comment and say that he could probably get the stain out if he tried. But Rin obviously didn’t care. It took a few moments for him to realise where they were walking, his eyes taking in every detail of Rin’s body and he realized that they were not heading in the direction of his usual coffee place.

“Where are we going?”

Rin reached and touched Haru’s shoulder stopping him for a moment. “For coffee. Or if you want… something stronger?”

Haru raised an eyebrow. “It’s ten a.m.”

“Then I guess not.”

And with that, Rin started walking again, Haru finding his pace a few steps behind. He knew he’d soon get past the point where he could walk away. Right now, he could go buy another coffee, go back to the studio at the Academy, paint until he could only smell paint in his nostrils and collapse there when he was done. Or he could crawl back to the apartment he shared with Makoto, try and avoid him and fall into bed, sleep for as long as he could and forget about his paintings and this meeting but Rin gave him a little wink, a smile, and Haru couldn’t help that he followed, intrigued, walking beside the guy with the shark tattoo.


	2. Blue Paint Splatters

Okay, Rin hadn’t been really looking where he was going and maybe he had been a little pissy. The call he’d just had with Seijuurou had made him grit his teeth together and want to slam his fist into a wall but he supposed it didn’t excuse shoving some poor student into a wall for spilling his coffee on him.

Of course, Rin had been wearing a nice new shirt, white, a black tank underneath but it wasn’t that bigger deal. As Rin had money, a damn sight more than the student would have, but he guessed it was the conversation on the cell phone he’d just had rather than anything else. Gou was off limits. Especially to someone like Seijuurou. His sister didn’t need to know Rin’s other life. Gou had to remain thinking he worked in the business district, wore nice shirts and tight fitting pants, and didn’t have a side business of a more violent and exotic nature.

But he stopped thinking about that while he was with this guy, as he had been intrigued by his blue eyes, his pout, his defiant eyes. Rin was used to being the one men feared, but this guy… well, he didn’t fear him at all. True, Haru didn’t know his true identity but then Rin was a pretty intimidating guy without the knowledge of his more ruthless career. His eyes, dark and dangerous, his smirk, his muscles, Rin was used to being the toughest guy in the school yard and Haru hadn’t cared.

He liked that.

The guy didn’t talk much but Rin appreciated that. He spent his life being talked at. His company, Samezuka Corp. appeared legit on the outside, or the company he ran with Seijuurou and they did do some trading that could be called “reputable” but it also provided cover for the less innocent activities and Rin spent days either in meetings with men in sharp suits or meetings with men with bleeding lips and bruised bodies.

It was quite a life. He supposed he should’ve walked away but Rin couldn’t help feeling a little something when he saw those blue eyes that challenged him, that made him swallow, that made him stop. As hell, Rin could have anything in his life but he rarely got someone who at least wasn’t a bit afraid of him. Even when Haru had seen the tattoo, he’d only seemed curious.

But walking beside him, Rin got to observe Haru through his hair, seeing how his tight grey t-shirt clung to his chest, sticking to his pectoral muscles and abs, paint splattered in blue. It finished at loose jeans that tapered down his legs, Rin taking a look to see the holes around the knees and more blue paint. He snickered.

“You like blue?”

“Huh?” Haru asked, his eyes meeting Rin’s briefly and Rin took a breath at those eyes staring at him. Shit, Rin just started to _really_ like blue.

“You like blue? Your whole outfit is covered in it.”

“My theme is water,” he said and then obviously saw Rin’s confusion, “my art. I have a show. The theme is water.”

His sentences were sharp but more words than he had said so far so Rin nodded. “You like water?”

“I like to swim.”

Rin smirked. “Me too, my office has a pool. You could use it some time.”

The look in Haru’s eyes was one that made them seem to sparkle and Rin guessed he liked the idea and, hell, Rin found he liked making the guy happy. He seemed too damn sexy with that enthusiasm on his face. But it was a brief thing and Rin shoved his hands firmly in his pockets, feeling a little disappointed it was gone.

The coffee shop was the one where Gou worked and one that Rin had “interests” in and so when they arrived, she smiled from her position behind the counter, making some cappuccinos or some shit for some women in high end designer clothes with big heels on their feet.  Rin glared a little but business was business and money meant money. He gestured towards a table by the window.

“What you drink?”

“Black. Strong.”

Rin’s eyebrows raised, glad it wasn’t some drink with chocolate and foam or whatever other shit and went to order, leaving Haru looking out of the window. As Gou had finished serving the women, she was about to speak as soon as Rin approached but he cut her off with a sharp look and a raise of his hand.

“Don’t.”

“Who -?”

“I’m not answering,” Rin said as Gou didn’t need to know and, shit, Rin didn’t even know. “Two strong. Black.”

She shook her head, annoyed at their boring choice of coffees but made them nonetheless, and Rin tapped his fingers on the counter. As shit, he should go back to the office or something now his anger was less volatile but he wouldn’t for a while because Haru… Haru was intriguing.

“Be careful,” he said after a moment, his sister looking up from her job.

“I make coffee every day,” she replied, sarcasm in her voice.

“No, Seijuurou… he ain’t a good guy.”

“He’s your partner.”

Rin shrugged and bit his lip. He could say a million things about why that didn’t make him a good guy for his younger sister but he didn’t. “Yeah… that doesn’t mean I trust him.”

Gou’s head cocked to the side and pushed the two coffees towards him. “You -”

“Never mind,” Rin said, grabbing the cups and walking back towards Haru.

It wasn’t like he could give Gou relationship advice. As shit, he had a string of guys, gorgeous and he’d fucked up – he’d done too many drugs, drank too damn much and fucked the wrong people. And when he walked over to Haru, Rin knew he should walk away, the guy was hot and intense and quiet, but he was young. And innocent. And didn’t know shit about Rin – about the men he’d killed, the things he’d done in the dead of night, the amount of people he’d hurt.

Rin knew he should chalk this down to a simple meeting with a hot guy and leave it at that but Haru – Haru didn’t seem intimidated and Rin liked the challenge. Despite the fact he should be rational, logical or whatever, he still found himself walking towards Haru, imaging what was under the paint splattered shirt.

Fuck. He was already in damn lust with the guy.

Ignoring the heat he felt in his gut, he placed the coffees down, seeing how Haru’s hands reached out, still with the residue of blue paint.

“Thanks,” Haru mumbled.

Rin winked. “No problem.”

Sat across from him, Rin tried to figure out what to say. He usually didn’t have to. The men he fucked in his king size bed or in alley ways, who blew him in a sports car and did whatever he demanded of them, weren’t people he’d talked to. They were just bodies and Haru, while had a fucking incredible body, wasn’t just a body. It wasn’t just sex. Sex where Rin forget all the shit he’d done and he swallowed unsure how to proceed.

“When’s your show?”

“Huh?”

Haru’s eyes had drifted to the street outside and Rin wondered, fuck, if this guy wasn’t even _interested_ in him. Fuck, he was The Shark. He could fuck any gay guy he liked and this guy was looking at the world passing by rather than him. He wanted to be irritated but then Haru looked at him and Rin felt a little breathless.

Those intense blue eyes on him, that dark hair flowing around his face and that small quirk of his lips, all made Rin stall, stop and yeah, he thought of a million dirty thoughts he shouldn’t – how his fingers would feel in that dark hair when Haru blew him, or how he’d look stretched out in Rin’s bed but he also felt something else. And shit, Rin shook his head, tried to ignore that.

“Your show. Your art. I’d like to see it.”

Haru looked surprised. “Saturday.”

Rin quickly thought as the weekends were when he should be working, should be checking up on the dealers and the clubs he owned, seeing his business empire at work, slink through the clubs like a predator making all the people who worked for him uncomfortable. But then he shrugged.

“Can I come?”

There was a short exhale of breath from Haru and Rin guessed he was shocked by Rin’s request. They’d just met but, shit, Rin wanted to spend more time with him and maybe it was a bad idea. Hell, that didn’t matter as Rin had a lot of them and when Haru nodded, his dark hair flickered just right and Rin was even more hooked than he had been.

He was about to ask the details, find out where he needed to go when his cell rang, buzzing in his back pocket and Rin drew it out, scowling with he saw Seijuurou’s number, his glare fierce as he glanced briefly to his sister. He shrugged a sorry to Haru who took a long sip of his coffee and he answered, his “hey” angry and abrupt.

“We got the snake.”

Rin’s eyes widened at the cryptic message and he felt a surge of adrenalin. “I’ll be there. Give me twenty.”

If it was anything else, Rin would’ve told his partner to handle it, but, fuck, that little shit… that little undercover cop was going to suffer, so instead he disconnected the call and looked once more at Haru. He should walk away. But instead of that, he grabbed a napkin, grabbing a pen from his pocket and scrawling his number on it.

“Text me the details. I gotta go.”

As he passed it over, Rin’s hand touched Haru’s and their eyes met and the moment was so damn intense that Rin felt breathless. He never believed in emotions or feelings or shit. Relationships were for sex. And he didn’t even do relationships. Just quick fucks and here he damn was with a guy he just met. He swallowed.

“I’ll see you around, Haru.”

For the first time in his life, Rin was not the calm cocky asshole people he thought he was, nearly crashing into someone entering the coffee shop before he regained composure and left with a little more grace. And shit, when he arrived at the warehouse on the edge of the city where the undercover asshole was tied in the chair, his high and hint of sexual frustration made his punches seem harder, his body using more power and exertion, leaving him spent and exhausted on the floor, covered in blood and thinking of how one stupid ass meeting had changed his life.

And Rin wondered whether that was a good thing.


	3. Breathless

He couldn’t breathe. There had been a peaceful ocean moments before and now Haru was being dragged underneath the waves, his mouth opening and breathing in salty cold water, filling his lungs and making him splutter and inhale more water. Haru kicked, seeing the ripples of the sunshine on the surface of the water but his body was already too heavy and there was too much water and he was sinking.

His hand reached out, breaking the surface, and he felt the heat of the sun on his skin for a moment before it was submerged again, his body falling further into the depths again.

Haru kicked one more time, kicking hard, his head unable to break the surface and he felt a hand latch onto his own, a firm grip grabbing around his wrist and pulling hard, so hard that he breached the surface and he coughed, water spraying from his mouth and he coughed, hard wracking coughs as he was held by someone treading water.

A strong hand slammed at his back, arms around him, keeping him upright in the water and Haru looked up then, his hair obscuring his vision but he could see the tattoo on the arm holding him, he could feel those powerful muscles holding him, saving him and when he ventured to look up into Rin’s face he felt a spark of something in his stomach that made him splutter again.

His mouth was about to open, their faces so close, submerged in the ocean, salty water dripping down their faces when Haru heard buzzing that did not belong in the moment he was in. All that belonged was the lapping of water, their breathing not some irritating noise.

And Haru realized then, his eyes opening that he was in bed, his own bed, the sheets a little sticky from his own sweat and his breathing labored from the dream. He took a deep breath and tried to relax as his heart was hammering and adrenalin was flowing and Haru was remembering everything about the dream.

The water, the feeling of drowning and then Rin… it made his heart beat faster that Rin had been the one to save him, the one to grab him and drag him up from the water and Haru wondered why. Yes, they’d met only a few days ago but Haru had other things to focus on and had been concentrating on his art and he’d almost forgotten about the touch of Rin’s hands when he’d pushed him against the wall, the way his eyes had looked at him almost like prey and the way he’d smirked at him and made him feel too hot in the coffee shop.

And he felt hot now. He swallowed and listened, he could hear Makoto moving around the apartment and guessed that he was up and he guessed that he would be making breakfast and Haru paused, his fingers itching at his sides. Makoto had told him to rest last night, told him he was working too hard on the show so he wasn’t expected to get up so Haru reached to his chest, running his fingers down his defined pecs lightly, his muscles jumping under the touch of his own fingertips.

Haru wasn’t a virgin, but he was too focused on his art, too focused on his show for so damn long that he’d barely thought about his body or dating or even just sex, so when he touched, just briefly flicking a nipple, his eyes closed and a low moan escaped his lips. He was imaging Rin, how his eyes were intense, how his fingers had felt calloused and how he would touch him, a hint of tease and roughness.

His hand went further, his abs, his thumb brushing over the ridges of his muscles before he reached to the waistband of boxer shorts, delving inside and reaching to touch his already hard cock. Haru wondered how Rin would touch him, wondered about how his lips would feel pressed against him and wondered why he felt like this from one meeting, one cup of coffee, one push against a wall. But he couldn’t help the feeling, his hips bucking up into his hand, as he used his other to shimmy his boxer shorts down, his hand slowly running up the length of his cock. His bottom lip was between his teeth to stop himself from crying out as his hand sped up, worried that Makoto would barge in if he heard him; personal space not being his best friend’s biggest strength.

Haru ran the pad of his thumb across the head, smearing the pre-cum down the length, and pumped himself roughly, imaging how Rin would look above him, watching him with those dark red eyes, his hair falling down his face and with that image, and a few more tugs on his cock, Haru came, his body jerking and cum spilling onto his sheets.

Breathless now for an entirely different reason, he wiped the stickiness from his fingers on the bed covers and then sat up, feeling a strange guilt for his actions. But then he felt relaxed, sated, not anxious about the show for the first time in a long time and he moved slowly, thankful for his own bathroom, showering away the stickiness from his skin and dressing in some shorts and a t-shirt, finding Makoto in the kitchen, the smell of fried mackerel in the air.

He sniffed. Makoto was definitely making a point if he was making his favorite food.

“You slept in,” Makoto said as he glanced up and Haru nodded a slight awkward nod as he took a seat at the breakfast bar of their apartment.

The apartment was too damn fancy for a pair of students but Haru’s parents had given it to him so he wouldn’t deny its luxury. Makoto looked at him, his eyes scanning Haru’s face in concern as he always seemed to do. It was often like living with a parent rather than a friend.

“Are you going to the Academy?”

He shouldn’t, Haru knew that – his pieces were finished but he still felt a level of anxiety. The show was tomorrow but still…

“Nagisa wants us to go out tonight. Celebrate your show.”

“But my show hasn’t happened yet,” Haru said, deadpan as Makoto pushed a plate over to him, fried mackerel and toast.

Makoto shrugged his big broad shoulders. “You know Nagisa.”

He did. Their blond friend was a ball of energy and while Haru liked him, he was sometimes a bit too much. But then a distraction was good.

“He thinks that if we go out before it’ll stop you ending up at the Academy late at night messing around with your work. It’s done, Haru. Leave it.”

Haru looked up to see Makoto’s warm smile, the concern in his green eyes and he nodded a little reluctantly. It wasn’t like Haru was an out-going person. He didn’t dance, he barely drank and he generally just stood watching with a glass of water as Nagisa danced, dragging his current boyfriend to the floor and dancing seductively with him. Makoto usually tried to keep Haru company, stand with him at a bar or sit with him in a booth but at some point in the evening, Makoto would be drunk enough to join in the dancing or maybe pick up some guy and Haru didn’t mind that, but he’d be left alone. Instead of thinking, he started to eat, feeling Makoto’s gaze.

“Where?” Haru said after a mouthful.

“Sharkbait.”       

The answer was a surprise. Sharkbait was an exclusive club and he couldn’t understand how Nagisa could get them in.

“Nagisa’s got a new guy.”

That suddenly made sense, Haru nodding to confirm that he understood that it was the only way they were getting into a club like _that._ You had to know someone and it didn’t surprise him that Nagisa did.

“We need to wear suits.”

“Yeah.”

Haru had guessed that and it wasn’t a problem, he had suits, had them due to his parents and though he hadn’t got it out in a while, he knew it would look good and fit. He finished his food and gave Makoto a small smile, his friend’s smile in return was a beam that lit up his whole face. Sometimes it felt like Makoto looked after him like a child, but then Haru appreciated those little things and knew he only cared about him. And Makoto only did it because…

“I’ll go down to the Academy this morning. I’ll be back in the afternoon.”

“Promise?”

The word promise reminded Haru of them being little boys, pinkie swearing and promising, and he nodded. “Promise.”

As he just needed to see his paintings one more time, check the blues and the pigments and his vision, and then he could relax. Or relax as much as he could. He mumbled a thanks, gathered up his bag and belongings from his room, and when he was ready to leave, Makoto was on his cell.

“Yeah… he agreed… yeah we’ll meet at eight… yeah… see you then.”

Haru stepped out of the apartment, leaned against the door for one moment in the plush lined hall and then started to walk. He was too anxious, too damn nervous and while this morning’s release had calmed him for a while, it had only been a temporary fix. And while he generally didn’t drink – maybe in the darkness of a club with flashing lights, he’d forget the nightmares that were haunting him, brought up by his art and his need to recreate the day his parents died.


	4. Sharkbait

It was Friday night and the club was busy – the noise deafening and the lights flashing. It was one of Rin’s main sources of income, the exclusive black and shiny silver club, slick and modern and fancy. The bar was one long line, a large fish tank behind it with various sharks swimming in circles, their tails whipping around as they swam. In front of that tank were the rows of bottles, the rows of the finest vodka’s, the best aged whiskeys, and bottles of Monet and Crystal in refrigerated cases. Rin stood in the VIP area leaning over the railing, looking to see how busy his club was. He was distracted scanning the crowd, a little hot under the collar, he was wearing a tight black suit, the pants tapering down his strong legs, tight around his ass, and a dark crimson shirt with a black skinny tie down the front. His jacket was discarded as it was too hot, the amount of bodies in the club making the night sticky as he looked down his eyes narrowed.

As the owner of Sharkbait, the guy in the VIP area with the slick suit, with his hair in his trademark ponytail, Rin could usually pick whoever the hell he wanted to. He could look down and pick some guy to take home, to have some quick fleeting fuck and then send them on their way. But tonight he didn’t feel like it and he leaned down, resting his arms against the metal and his head on his hands, wondering what was wrong with him.

He should just forget about Haru. He was just some guy who, granted, was kinda hot but nothing that special, right? He told himself that as he looked at the throng of young and beautiful bodies, all gyrating together, the women in stunning dresses and the men in suits and tight shirts and ties. Rin should just go home and jerk off in the shower and drink some whiskey. It was a better idea than staying around and he could see that the club was busy, that people were ordering the bottles of champagne like they were tap water and he knew the profits were going to be big. Plus his staff had seen his face. And that was a damn important thing, as they needed to know that the boss was around and to work hard, otherwise they’d suffer the fate of some of their other colleagues.

Rin was ruthless. He had to be. There was always someone trying to take advantage, always someone trying to steal from him and those that did… well some of them didn’t see the light of day again.

Making his decision, Rin stood up straight, slid a hand into his pocket and was about to turn away, walk away, go to his Maserati and drive away, when his eyes found a group that attracted his attention.

A tall guy with blue-ish hair wearing glasses with a blond grinding up against him. The blond was showing a lot of enthusiasm and some skin, Rin noted, and while he was wearing a suit, he was lifting up the shirt, dragging the taller guys hands to his toned stomach, and grinding his ass against the tall’s guy groin. Rin smirked. It was always funny to watch people on the verge of nearly fucking on the dance floor and the blond was really _fucking_ into it. The tall guy seemed flustered but he wasn’t able to move away and then Rin could get that. While the blond wasn’t his type, he was pretty sexy and if he was the tall dude’s type, then it would be hard to not want to have the blond’s pants around his ankles and fucking him in the men’s rooms.

Rin had fond memories of Sharkbait’s men’s rooms.

He’d watched enough when the blond turned around to bring the tall guy down for a kiss but then he saw _him._ He was stood at the bar, another guy stood next to him, watching the same scene that Rin had, a small smirk on his lips.

“Haru,” Rin whispered, frustrated.

Shit, ever since that meeting Rin had thought about him. Not just sexual thoughts, though he would admit to a few showers where his hand reached down to his cock and he panted, his hand against the tile as he stroked himself imaging Haru laid in his bed.  But it wasn’t just that – Rin thought about lazy Sunday mornings with breakfast in bed and walking with Haru in the streets and watching him paint. And Rin never thought like that.

So when he saw him, a sharp dark suit, his eyes watching the two guys on the dance floor, Rin was a little dumbfounded. And then he was jealous as he saw the man next to him. A gorgeous man. Tall, some brown hair falling over his eyes, broad shoulders and muscles, his sleeves rolled up and in that instant, Rin felt an anger and jealousy that usually led to a dead body. They weren’t touching but they were close, evidence of being comfortable with each other and he hated that idea, he hated the idea of someone else touching Haru, caressing, feeling him and he grabbed for his jacket, walking swiftly to the stairs and down into the main area of the club.

He didn’t know what he planned on doing but he felt an anger towards the other guy and he wanted to make a claim, make some kinda stand for Haru – assert that he was “his” even though that was ridiculous. They’d met once, they’d sent a few texts to arrange Rin attending his show but that was it. But it didn’t stop him. What had made Rin the man he was today was a streak of determination, of ruthlessness and his desire to always get what he wanted – and right now, his sights were on Haru.

Maybe Haru wasn’t aware of who he was but the rest of the crowd did, parting to allow Rin through, his hands in fists at his side. Though as soon as Haru turned, saw him, his anger dissipated as there was a reaction in those blue eyes, the slightest reaction at first, but it was not one that was annoyed or angry. It seemed… happy? That’s what Rin guessed and without even a glance towards his friend, Haru was approaching him and some of his slickness and confidence was gone as Rin saw the suit, the way it fitted, the tie, the hair and those so _fucking_ perfect eyes.   

And he felt his hand going behind his neck, he found his palms sweaty and it was nothing to do with the temperature of the club.

He had to admit, he was surprised. Haru didn’t seem like the crazy club guy but then he supposed one conversation was nothing and Rin had hardly told him anything about himself. Really, was he going to admit after one meeting that he was the Shark, a gangster, a man who had blood on his hands and a list of crimes too damn long to count?

Rin closed the gap, moving so that they were at the edge of the dance floor and he leant down to speak in Haru’s ear.

“What’cha doing here?”

Haru shrugged and then answered. “I need to relax before the show.”

They were shouting in each other’s ears over the thudding pulsing beat of a song and it meant they were close, Haru’s breath across his cheek as he spoke and Rin nodded to answer.

“Come with me,” he said and he almost reached for his hand, but stopped himself, “if your friends don’t mind.”

Haru looked over and Rin realized now that not only the tall built guy was Haru’s friend but the dancing couple and he offered a small wave to them as they stared at him. He was concerned as the guy wearing glasses had his fingers holding the frames and seemed to look at him with some suspicion. Maybe he knew. Maybe he’d tell Haru what Rin did but shit, he didn’t give a damn as Haru turned, nodded and Rin walked back to the VIP area of the club, Haru following him clearly puzzled, until they reached the private bar where a security guard stood, the door being opened without any question.

The private bar had all the alcohol stocked from the main one just no bartenders, it was set out ready for pouring, champagne in ice buckets, lemon slices and of course, another fish tank with sharks.

“How -?”

“I own this place,” Rin explained as Haru walked over to the bar, running his fingers across the shining black marble.

There was no other immediate question then about how or why. Rin liked that. “You like sharks?”

Rin snickered. He was glad they were no longer in the main area of the club as while there was still the noise of the bass reverberating, he could hear Haru perfectly. Though maybe he was a little disappointed that he had no excuse to get as close.

“Yeah, you like ‘em?”

“I prefer dolphins,” Haru answered, turning and then walking towards the black leather seating that was around the edge of the room. “They can beat sharks. Attack their gills.”

“Really?” Rin asked sarcastically and he raised one eyebrow, walking over to the bar. “What you drinking?”

“Vodka.”

“Mixed?”

“Straight with lemon and ice.” Rin looked at him, Haru now without his jacket and a nice tight fitting blue shirt on his body. “Nearest thing to water,” Haru finished.

“You like water – I mean, your show, the blue, the swimming thing, dolphins?”

“It’s where I feel free.”

Rin had been pouring the drinks and he looked over at that point, seeing how Haru looked thoughtful, his eyes a little glazed and he finished pouring, adding ice and lemon, and then walked over with Haru’s vodka and his own whiskey.

“Maybe we should toast, you know?” Rin said as he took a seat beside Haru, close enough to almost feel the heat of Haru’s thigh against his own. “To freedom?”

Haru nodded. “To freedom.”

And as their glasses clinked together, Rin had a lot of things he had to run from  – violence and the police and his organization, but he did wonder what Haru wanted to be free from.


	5. Brawling and Bruises

Haru felt drunk. It was only a little drunk but he definitely knew he’d had too much vodka – more than he usually had and he felt light headed, realising that was probably due to the fact he’d not eaten since Makoto made him mackerel for breakfast. Or maybe it was because he was with Rin – Rin, who was sat close to him, who smelt good, who was asking him questions about himself and listening to his answers intently.

And for the first time in forever, Haru felt relaxed, leaning back against the black leather, his body sinking into the supple fabric, watching the sharks swim around the tank, his drink held loosely in his hand.

“So… your show?”

Rin’s voice brought Haru back to the present and he turned towards Rin, meeting his eye and blinking at the intensity of his expression.

“Is it important?”

He swallowed, taking a sip of his drink, the burn of vodka no longer on his throat as he’d had too much and it just went smoothly to his stomach. It was important, part of his grade, but it was more than that – it was about the day his parents died. The day they’d drowned. He realised he felt emotional, a little raw and he saw the way Rin was looking at him, and then suddenly Rin’s hand was on Haru’s thigh. He looked at it, the way his hand was large and had some cuts and marks on his skin and Haru reached out tentatively towards it, their fingertips brushing. Haru looked up at Rin, at the slight smile he had on his face, at his hair that was tied back in a ponytail, at how he looked at him and Haru leaned forward, instincts driving him forward.

Makoto said he spent too much time in head. Too much time thinking or working, but right now, Haru was not thinking. The alcohol had made his senses blurry, his tongue seemed too large for his mouth and he felt weird. As though he was underwater and it was only Rin’s hand that was keeping him solid, afloat, locked into the moment.

It reminded him of the dream, of him holding him tight to his chest and Haru felt his breathing speed up, his heart beat faster as Rin was leaning towards him too. The silent understanding dragging them closer, their faces close and Haru felt his eyes closing when he felt Rin’s breath, hot and smelling of whiskey, and then there was buzzing. Annoying loud buzzing. The sound of the music was vague, distant, but this was close, in the room and Rin backed off, Haru’s eyes flashing open as the hand wasn’t holding him anymore, the hand wasn’t touching him and he felt weightless again.

Rin was stood up, a cell at his ear and his hand scratching at a spot at the back of his neck, his body tense.

“Shit… I’ll be down…yeah… just get the fucking security on it…”

His face was angry, his expression fierce and Haru blinked at the intensity of it and suddenly, Haru wondered about Rin. He hadn’t at first. And he should’ve wondered why he had so much money and why he owned this club when he was only a few years older but he hadn’t. He had just been taken in and that face… well, he stood up, feeling the effects of the alcohol in his bloodstream circulating round, his head light but he didn’t let Rin see his drunkenness, suddenly embarrassed about his own actions. About his own attempt to kiss Rin. That had been stupid, foolish… Haru wasn’t like that.

“I got a problem,” Rin said, his shoulders shrugged, “… we can pick this up later?”

Haru shook his head, the motion making him feel sick. “I should find my friends…” he mumbled and Rin looked disappointed for a moment before his features schooled themselves.

“Yeah, fine… I guess I’ll see you at the show tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah.”

They stood opposite one another, looking at each other, the moment passed and Rin gave a smirk. “Sorry, got a job to do.”

He turned, leaving the private bar and Haru followed, seeing how Rin wasn’t at all effected by the alcohol he had drunk, his pace down the stairs fast, getting down to the dance floor as quickly as he could. Haru followed, each step more cautious, but he soon sobered up as he saw the scene in front of him.

“Shit,” he murmured, his speed picking up and he managed to catch up to Rin, grabbing for his elbow. “They’re my friends.”

Rin glanced back and dislodged his hand from Haru’s grip. “I know. Let me sort it out.”

It was Rei and Makoto brawling with two big guys. Yes, both of them were tall but these guys were huge, muscles of body builders, and Haru was tempted to run and join in the fray. Makoto was holding his own, swinging his powerful arms, his fists aimed at the stomach of a big bald guy, but despite the fact Makoto was pretty strong, his build refined through swimming, he was still outgunned. The big guy punched him, hard, in the face and Makoto stumbled back into the crowd and Haru wanted to run towards him to help his best friend but Rin grabbed onto his wrist, stopping him from going to his aid.

Haru glared and shook it off, darting towards the dance floor, trying to battle through the crowd who had left the space in the middle for the brawl. The music was still pounding but Haru could only feel the beat of his own heart as he tried to get through to help. When he reached the middle where the crowd had parted, he saw that Makoto was back swinging and his focus turned towards Rei.

He’d only met Rei a few hours ago and he had been cynical. Haru had met a ton of Nagisa’s boyfriends and Rei seemed like he would be just another in the long line but Rei was a little more serious than Nagisa’s usual types. He was smart, he had a doctorate and had not just been some party guy like usual so Haru had actually sort of _liked_ him. And now, Rei was being beaten the shit out of. His glasses were broken, them hanging off his face, the frames damaged and he could see his nose was bloody as another punch was aimed at him, this time in his stomach, and Haru was about to join in the fray when the music turned off and he turned around, the lights in the club suddenly turning on and a path was created in the crowd, Rin walking through with two large heavies, heavier even than the guys who’d been beating the shit out of Makoto and Rei.

The fight paused and a hushed silence took over the crowd. Haru heard a word murmured over and over again in the club.

“Shark.”

Haru saw the way people stared at Rin and then he turned towards the fighters in the middle, Makoto having gone over to Rei, holding him up with his body, both of them looking bloody and beaten.

“We’re… sorry,” said one of the guys and Haru’s eyes narrowed as he saw… fear? in those men’s eyes. And that didn’t make sense to him.

While Rin owned the club, he wasn’t that scary. Haru watched the way he approached the trouble makers, his face hard and eyes sparkling.

“Everyone knows the rules, right?” he asked, his voice suddenly loud and there was a murmur through the crowd, but Rin’s eyes were directed at the two men.

“We know… he started it.”

The guy pointed to Rei and despite the fact Rei may’ve started it, Rei was barely able to walk unless he was held up by Makoto and Nagisa was running fingers over his bruised face in concern.

“Well, that don’t matter… these are friends of mine and you…” Rin paused as he walked forward, touching the first guy lightly, “you guys ain’t.”

He turned then to his goons, his eyes on them, nodding his orders. “Take ‘em to my office.”

The two guys shared a scared glance and Haru frowned as Rin’s men put hands on their shoulders, their bodies shuddering at the contact. Rin paused then, clicked his fingers and suddenly the music began again, the lights going down as the two men were marched away.

“Let’s go,” Nagisa said, “we need to stop the bleeding.”

Haru felt the hand on his arm and nodded, reaching to offer Makoto a hand as Rei was supported by Nagisa. The crowd parted for them as they walked their way out of the club and Haru turned, looked towards where Rin was and their eyes met one more time.

“Sorry,” Rin mouthed and Haru just gave him a slight nod in response. Then Rin turned away, walking through the path in the crowd, Haru watching him go.

Makoto had stopped with him, maybe a little confused why, and he looked up to his friend.

“Problem, Haru?”

Haru shook his head. He did have a problem – he had wanted to kiss Rin and now sobered up and walking out, he suddenly wondered if that was a bad idea. As he’d heard the word “Shark” and seen how people had feared him, so Haru wondered – who the hell was Rin? And why had those two guys been afraid?


	6. Punches and Texts

The punches didn’t make Rin feel better, even when his hand felt raw from where it had repeatedly connected with the idiot’s jaw. He was letting out his annoyance, his irritation at his night being ruined by two thugs in the only way he knew how – violence. The moment his phone had buzzed, deep inside his pocket, Rin had been leaning towards Haru – leaning towards his mouth and he’d been able to feel Haru’s breath across his face and he’d already been playing the whole situation in his mind. Some slow sensual kissing, their mouths tasting of the alcohol they’d drunk, their bodies melding together and, in his head, Haru had straddled his lap and Rin had nipped at his jaw and throat, licked at his skin and he’d tasted the salt water as he mouthed his perfect pale skin.

But that hadn’t happened. Instead, these idiots had started beating on Haru’s friends, and Rin was left to use his power like he so rarely had to, an audience watching as they got dragged away to his office, pushed to their knees and Rin had punched them in turn hard across the face.

They protested innocence, people always did,  but right now Rin wasn’t just some guy, he was “The Shark” and those men knew that they’d pissed him off.

“They started it… I just touched his piece of ass…”

After the first punches, Rin had walked to his desk where he watched the security footage and sure enough, he saw what happened. The blond friend of Haru – the one who’d been dancing indecently next to the tall guy – had been groped and the reaction for that grope had been a slap across the face from the blond. Which, then, got the tall guy with glasses involved. And then, had ended up with the carnage that followed and Rin being called down from his nice private bar and Haru. It made him grit his teeth, his jaw tight and he was barely able to control the anger because Haru had _seen_ and Haru might’ve been ignorant of who he was prior to that – but after? Rin now stood no chance. As shit, an art student was not going to want to get involved with him. And why did Rin want to get involved anyway? He was a “fuck ‘em and leave” kinda guy.

He’d let out as much of his aggression on those idiots until his breathing was ragged and he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned, his hand still in a fist to face Seijuurou.

“They know what they did – let them go now.”

Rin didn’t want to agree with him. He was annoyed at him for the advances on his sister and while he was his second in command, his partner, Rin didn’t trust the flame haired asshole, but he knew he was talking sense. They’d been beaten by “The Shark” . It was enough. They’d never enter Sharkbait again and never would they cause shit in his club. And he didn’t need to kill them. Maybe if Haru had got in the fray and been hurt… fuck, Rin shook his head, stepped back and ran fingers through his hair.

“Get rid of them,” Rin said, his voice commanding and clear and he saw Seijuurou flinch, if only a little.

“Me?” he asked.

Rin glared in response and he grabbed, then, for his throat, the impulse to be aggressive too strong and Seijuurou looked shocked. “I gave you an order. Now do it.”

Maybe he expected him to ask one of the lower members of the organisation, the bouncers, the heavies who worked for them only due to size and bulk but Rin had asked Seijuurou do it and he couldn’t tolerate looking weak in front of anyone, his strength was in his intimidation factor and that’s what was damn important. Rin let go of Seijuurou’s throat, seeing his hands rub there for a moment and he walked back towards the two idiots on their knees.

“I never want to see you in my fuckin’ club or any of my establishments again, you hear?”

They nodded stupidly yes’es murmured and Rin smirked.

“Otherwise next time… I won’t stop.”

He didn’t listen to their sorry’s or whatever the hell else they said, only walked out of the office, along the corridor and into his club. The night had returned to normal, the dancing couples grinding and groping, and Rin thought about another drink, another whiskey, and finding some guy. He saw someone, dark hair and blue eyes and his heart stopped for a moment, thinking maybe Haru had come back, but then he shook his head and saw it was some other guy who was winking suggestively at him and Rin turned away, scanning the crowd and deciding he needed to call it a night. As all he was doing was making himself feel depressed, and even if he found someone to fuck, he’d have sex, and it would probably be good and it would get out some of his rage, but shit, he didn’t want to do that as he would be thinking about Haru.

And even though Rin could be a douche, he wasn’t _that_ much of a douche.

So he left, walked to his Maserati and drove above the speed limit, the pounding rhythm of some loud rock song on the stereo, feeling the adrenalin course through his veins. Maybe Haru would be impressed by his car. Maybe he’d blow him in here… maybe they’d fuck on the passenger seat. After all, the steering wheel would get in their way…

Those thoughts were with him as Rin arrived at his building, the palatial suites that he owned, making his way through the lobby, another large shark tank dominating the space. A fake reef and sunken ship in the middle, the sharks and rays swimming through it and around it. The doormen said their goodnights and Rin nodded, not wanting to speak, only to get to his penthouse, to get a bottle of booze and slink into bed.

He stepped into the plush elevator – his private one and leaned against the side, the cold of the metal against his skin and his head bowed as he thought about whether or not he should go to Haru’s show. Haru was not from his world and he didn’t want to be part of it, so why was Rin already so fixated? He growled as the elevator door opened into his penthouse and he started to strip his clothes without care.

His tie fell to the floor, not needed and useless, his shirt following, and he undid his ponytail, shaking his hair free as he walked towards the kitchen.

“Huh. That’ll do,” he said as he saw a bottle of vodka, not what he’d been drinking but it was what Haru had been drinking. What Haru would’ve tasted like.

He unscrewed the cap and raised the bottle to his lips, walking over to the large glass windows, the city sprawling out in glittering lights. Rin was feared and respected in this city. He earned and worked and fought for his position and he scowled as he saw his reflection. But then, if he had fucking everything, why wasn’t he ridiculously happy?

Ignoring those sombre thoughts he took another swig, started to unbuckle his belt one handed as he strolled through the penthouse to the bedroom, another fish tank, this time smaller, embedded in the wall between the bedroom and the living area. As he approached, he’d managed to undo his pants and he slipped them off, fumbling off his shoes and then he was wearing only tight black boxer briefs. Naked, then, besides the briefs and his tattoos. He paused for a moment running the pad of his thumb over the shark on his bicep. Stupid idea. Shouldn’t have gotten the tattoo.

Rin walked to the bed and pulled back the covers, putting down his bottle as he slid into the expensive sheets. He sighed, looked up at the mirror on the ceiling that he’d put up in one of his kinkier moments and sighed loudly as he looked at the guy in the mirror. The fucking gorgeous guy. That could have anyone he wanted he wanted, but had come home alone.

“Pathetic, Matsuoka,” he murmured thinking ,then, about the offers he had. He could grab his cell and call someone, and he could be having hot and heavy sex within twenty minutes, but the thought of his cell made his eyes open wide. He had Haru’s number as he’d texted him the details of his show. So Rin got out of his bed, grabbed it and jumped back on the bed, sitting cross-legged as he looked at the screen.

He started to type.

**//Rin: Everything ok?//**

He waited, his heart beating fast while there was no response. Rin groaned and waited, staring at the screen. He did that for five minutes before giving up, putting it to the side and thinking, fuck, he should just watch some porn and jack off and he was about to that when his phone buzzed.

**//Haru: Yeah. Sorry for leaving.//**

Rin smirked as he saw the message.

**//Rin: That’s cool. See you tomorrow still?//**

The message back took only moments before it arrived.

**//Haru: Night. See you then.//**

The laugh that escaped Rin’s lips was a warm chuckle and he sank back into the sheets looking then at the guy in the mirror who looked cocky and confident. And instead of needing porn, Rin let his eyes close and think about the smell of Haru’s skin when he was close, the feel of his breath and the way he’d looked the moment before they were about to kiss and he slowly stroked his cock, imagining all the things they’d do together in his bed, the mirror above them showing how they’d move together, and Rin slowly brought himself to breathless completion, Haru’s name spilling from his lips.

“Fuck,” he said as he came down from the high, lazily rubbing his sticky fingers on the sheets and turning onto his stomach to sleep.

Fuck indeed. As he was too fucking into this guy and that always led to trouble. 

 


	7. The Show

One of the Academy’s many art studios had been turned into a gallery, the art of the students hung and displayed alongside each other, and Haru’s was very central. The lights shone down on his pieces, the large canvases with oil carefully layered and painted, and they seemed to shine underneath those lights. The blues seemed bright, the turquoises, the hints of greens that were splayed across the surface. And Haru looked at them, seeing his own titles, seeing his own descriptions of his work and cocked his head, looking at all the tiny flaws. This wave didn’t look right, that foam looked pointless and he was unhappy as nothing he could do could recreate what he wanted.

Haru put his hands in the pocket of his suit pants and let his eyes drift to the other work in the gallery, his frustration mounting. His peers work seemed better – so much better than anything he could do and he was feeling depressed about the whole thing. Maybe he should just leave. He didn’t need to hang around for his lecturers and teaching staff to stare at it intently, to critique it and mark it and he could go back to the apartment, lie on his bed and stare at the ceiling until he fell asleep, and forget about it all. Forget about how he’d been trying to recreate that day. Turn the most tragic day of his life into something beautiful. It was a stupid plan.

“Haru?”

He heard his name and turned to see Makoto, a glass of champagne in one of his outstretched hands and Haru took it thinking that maybe that was one way to get through the show. Alcohol. He looked up at his friend and saw the bruises on his face, feeling bad about them and remembering going home last night with him and an injured Rei. They’d all gone back to Haru’s place, Nagisa and Haru patching them up, swabbing away the blood and applying band aids. Makoto didn’t look as bad as Rei but still looked like he’d been in a fight. Nagisa was attending the show solo due to Rei’s appearance. Apparently it had been much worse in the morning.

“They look beautiful, Haru,” Makoto said and Haru bit his tongue.

As the artist, all he saw was the flaws and he wanted to tell Makoto them all but instead, he nodded and took a sip of the champagne. Haru hadn’t really felt hung over in the morning, the fight had sobered him up but the taste of champagne wasn’t pleasant on his tongue and he wondered whether that was due to all the vodka he’d drunk last night. Or he didn’t like champagne. Instead of telling Makoto all this, he took another sip.

“Thanks.”

Makoto knew Haru so well, that’s what being childhood best friends meant, and so he knew not to press, instead he wandered to find Nagisa who was currently at the buffet table and Haru finished his champagne, deciding to go find another one to ease his awkwardness.

His art was him. The water, the memories, his blood, sweat, tears and sleepless nights and he needed to feel less self-conscious. So more booze. But as he got his next glass, placing his empty, he heard a voice behind him, smooth and low and he straightened up and turned to see Rin stood there.

“You sure you want to drink again tonight?”

Haru let a small smile cross his lips. “You sound like my friend.”

“Yeah?”

“He always tells me what I should do.”

Rin eyes darted to Makoto and he shrugged. “What did he think about me?”

Makoto hadn’t said anything but then neither had Haru. The night had ended with cleaning blood off his face so conversation had been limited. And Haru had just excused himself to bed. Today he’d hidden in his room, pacing anxiously, steadfastly avoiding Makoto so as not to make himself even more nervous. Even if Makoto had been curious – which he probably was – Haru didn’t give him any opportunity to question.

“Nothing.”

Rin smiled, this time not a smirk, but it seemed to be of relief, of genuine happiness and it was so much startling, that it took Haru a moment to realise Rin had spoken again. “Wanna show me your pieces?”

He regained his composure, taking a breath and led the way, his head inclining in the direction of his art. As they walked Haru noticed that Rin was dressed in smart dress pants, a tight shirt, this time black with a red tie down the front and he looked as good as Haru remembered. Actually better, now that there wasn’t alcohol, the lighting and the thudding bass of loud music as distractions. Now there was only paintings and white light, and Haru drinking more champagne as they stopped in front of his work. And while Rin looked at his art, Haru looked at Rin taking in more details about the guy he’d met a few days ago.

“These.”

He didn’t add anything – didn’t tell Rin the story and he stood awkwardly, rocking back on his heels and glancing to where Makoto was talking to Nagisa. And then his eyes were drawn to another man, tall, dark haired with aquamarine eyes. He focused on him realising that they were being watched closely by him, who was dressed in a black suit, with an earpiece. Haru frowned turning back to Rin, thinking about another glass of champagne

Rin eyes were narrowed, looking at his art and Haru turned away, looking again at the imperfections in his pieces.

“You _really_ like water,” Rin said after a few minutes of silently taking them in.

“It was inspired by a day…” Haru murmured and he saw Rin’s attention focused on him and Haru shrugged, not completing his sentence. He barely knew Rin and he was seemingly willing to spill his guts out. He’d only had two glasses of champagne but apparently they were strong. And due to his anxiety he’d had little food. So his tongue felt looser for a moment before he clammed up, not wanting to reveal everything to Rin. Perhaps he never would.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“No,” he answered, “I need another drink.”

Rin nodded. “I’ll get them.”

Haru watched Rin go, seeing the way his hair wasn’t tied back tonight, how tight the pants were around his ass and he swallowed guiltily, thinking about his masturbation fantasy and how they’d nearly kissed, and his mouth went dry at those thoughts. He also noted Rin’s eyes meet the tall guy’s eye and Haru frowned when Rin came back, holding two glasses, and Rin noticed his look. That glance there, Haru didn’t like it and he felt irrational for a moment – jealous even, and he hated himself for it.

“My driver,” Rin said.

The only noise Haru made was a small “huh?” and Rin smirked, drinking the champagne. “I saw. I’m here because I wanted to see you. He’s no one.”

That was oddly reassuring as seeing “the driver” had made a spike of jealousy surface in his gut and Haru didn’t like that. And he wasn’t sure why. He’d only just met Rin.

“Can we get out of here?” Haru said suddenly, his eyes scanning and seeing that Makoto and Nagisa were currently talking to the tall guy, seeing that his tutors were looking at someone else’s pieces and he didn’t want to be here.

“Ugh… sure… where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere.”

Rin watched in surprise as Haru downed the last of the glass, the fizzy bubbles seeming to tickle but he didn’t care. He saw Rin give a nod to the guy and Haru reached for Rin’s hand, feeling bold by alcohol and he leant in close. “No driving.”

“Sure…”

There was a tone in Rin’s voice that was unsure but Haru felt insistent and it was only once they got to the exit did he realise he was being that way because he was drunk. Haru wasn’t sure whether it was the after effects of last night combined with no food and then two glasses of champagne but as they arrived at the doors, he already was a little unsteady and reckless.

So reckless that even though he could hear rain, he could hear it as the approached the exit, he didn’t care, pushing his way out into the rain and dragging Rin with him.

“Shit – Haru!”

He heard Rin but Haru only shook his head as heavy rain pelted down on his body, his skin, soaking him within a few moments and Rin was the same, that hair plastered to his face, looking shocking and bright underneath the fading darkening sky, illuminated by the street lights.

Away, that’s what Haru needed and when he felt Rin pulling back, he let go of him, walking away from the Academy, needing to be _somewhere,_ just somewhere else – maybe a bar where the music was loud, maybe Rin’s club but he was walking fast and he felt the water flood his expensive loafers, bought for his parents funeral and he was going to just get as far away from his paintings, from Makoto’s sympathetic glances, from Nagisa… from his tutors… from the memory of his parents.

“Hey – wait up!”

And then Haru didn’t realise it but he was running, for some reason he was running and it was too damn much until Rin was there. It was like his nightmare. That he was drowning and suddenly there was Rin, Rin in front of him, grabbing for his shoulders and looking at him with intense eyes and hair plastered to his face.

“Fuck – you okay?”

Haru nodded weakly. As he guessed he was but his eyes drifted to where Rin’s fingers were holding him, anchoring him into the moment and he then glanced up to see his face and then instinct or alcohol took over and Haru was pressing forward this time with only a little hesitation.

The rain was heavy, they were stood in some street at night, but Haru wasn’t thinking of anything beyond the way Rin’s eyes widened as he realised what was happening but then Haru’s closed and he didn’t see anything. He felt things, the way the water was pouring down his face and how his hair was damp and stuck to his head but he didn’t need to see as their lips met, as they brushed together and Rin may’ve seemed shocked at his actions but he was responding as Haru’s tongue traced a pattern over Rin’s mouth, him gasping and allowing their tongues to slide against each other.

Haru felt Rin grab for him, dragging him closer, and he bucked into him, their bodies close and in wet clothes and Haru reached for Rin’s hair as their kiss became open mouthed, hotter, fierce, the tentativeness replaced by something more passionate. Fiery. Good.

But it faded, that feeling, that heat as suddenly Rin was pulling away and Haru was dizzy, confused, hot and he saw Rin, a hand scratching his neck.

“I should get you home… you seem a little drunk.”

He wanted to protest that he wasn’t – but Rin was signalling for a cab, throwing him in, and Haru was complying in a haze, sitting next to Rin in the backseat, dripping water and feeling the fading fire from their kiss in his gut.


	8. Too Much, Too Soon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have completed the writing of this fic apart from the epilogue and now know it's 16 chapters! Now it's editing and getting it beta'd...

Rin managed to get Haru’s home address. Not from Haru but from contacting Sousuke at the Academy, getting him to talk to Haru’s friend and explaining why he’d gone somewhere without his body guard/driver. Often Rin tried to get rid of Sousuke, but sometimes he knew the back-up was essential. The incident at Sharkbait had been one thing of many recently and Rin was getting a little concerned about his organisation and whether there would be an impending threat. So he was consenting to his large hulking bodyguard following him around with only the slightest amount of annoyance.

He got the address, told Sousuke to tell Haru’s friend that he was okay, just drunk, and then got Haru to his apartment. Rin had thought about taking him back to his and then decided against it. After that kiss and his own dirty fantasies, it was going to be hard to keep his hands off Haru and that was clearly not what the guy needed at the moment. There was something more and Haru wasn’t going to just blurt it out. Which Rin could accept - it just meant that he was taking him home, taking him to bed and leaving him to sleep, not to have wild crazy sex. As much as his libido was telling him to take advantage of Haru’s assertiveness.

As, fuck… that kiss. Rin had kissed a lot of people – he tended to go after men, but he’d kissed anyone – and Haru had been so fucking good. Or maybe it was because Rin wanted it, but when Haru had ground himself up against him, grabbed at Rin’s hair, dragged his tongue over his lips, all Rin had wanted to do was drag him into an alleyway and take it further, reach into Haru’s pants, find his cock…

“Here,” the cab driver said and Rin was glad, throwing money at him and he grabbed for Haru’s shoulder.

“We’re here,” he said softly, his hand on Haru’s shoulder.

Haru managed to get out with only minimal trouble and Rin offered a hand to which Haru shrugged it off and Rin only answered with a “fine”. Worse than being drunk, Haru was apparently a stubborn drunk.

“Your apartment?” Rin prompted and Haru then led the way, Rin following and at times grabbing onto him as his walk became more of a zig-zag than anything else.

He needed to handle his liquor better, Rin thought, but then they were at least in the building, the doormen recognising Haru and letting him in without fuss. And then Rin looked around. As the building, while nowhere near as fancy as Rin’s own home, was kinda expensive and he looked at Haru. The Haru who couldn’t afford to buy him a new shirt and he was suspicious as they walked to the elevator taking them up a few floors. Yeah, it wasn’t the penthouse but still, swanky, as they exited onto the floor and Rin prompted Haru again, this time for the key.

“Yeah,” he mumbled as he produced it from his wet pants and Rin tried not to be an asshole. He wanted to just grab it off the drunk Haru and do it himself. But there was this stubbornness to Haru that made him think it wouldn’t be appreciated. And he had the key, even if it took a while, and they were walking into the apartment.

Rin took a moment to look around it, seeing that it was pretty nice for some students before he found Haru pushing him against the door, slick lips on his. It was difficult to push away or do anything but submit. Usually Rin was dominant, usually people were submissive to him because he was “the Shark”, but not just that – but because he could be dangerous, pretty damn scary, but fuck, Haru didn’t care.

And Rin was liking that even more. Liking it so fucking much as Haru kissed him with hot open mouthed kisses, his tongue thrusting inside Rin’s mouth, his hands grabbing Rin’s wet shirt, his body aligning perfectly, tightly from chest to groin… it all felt damn good. Rin moaned into the kiss when Haru found his skin, dragging his fingers underneath Rin’s shirt, tracing a pattern up his spine and Rin responded, groping at Haru’s ass which made him buck his hips forward, their clothed cocks meeting through too much material, and it was Haru’s turn to pant then, their lips separating. They were both hard, horny, and Rin could see the saliva from their kiss staining Haru’s lips and the glistening on his skin from rain water and he watched, his eyes widening, as Haru undid the buttons on his shirt, exposing pale skin and Rin licked his lips unconsciously, desperately, wanting.

Haru was gorgeous clothed but without them, fuck, Rin had imagined that. Haru was turning, walking away, a look over his shoulder to indicate he should follow and Rin felt powerless to do anything but – he wasn’t a romantic, but he felt like he was turning into one when he was around this guy. He was being led towards a bedroom, the shirt now fully removed and Haru turned.

“Close the door.”

Rin raised an eyebrow, distracted momentarily as they were alone and he couldn’t see the point. 

“My roommate.”

The heat of the moment seemed to dissipate a little but then Haru approached, dragging Rin towards him via his tie, their lips meeting again but Rin only let the kiss become nothing more than a brief brush of lips, a slide of tongue, before he pulled away.

“This place. It’s expensive.”

“It was my parents,” Haru said, trying to attack his mouth again, his tone dismissive.

Haru was grabbing for him, his fingers working on his buttons, undoing them and Rin shook his head. “Look… stop.”

He grabbed for Haru’s hand, stopping the movement and Haru looked up, his blue eyes staring up into Rin’s in confusion.

“You’re drunk. We shouldn’t.”

The response wasn’t what Rin expected as then there was a hand at his crotch, rubbing there and Rin almost felt his eyes roll into the back of his head at the touch, so sure and confident and he wanted Haru. That wasn’t the problem. He was hard and he had a willing gorgeous guy rubbing his dick and even through his suit pants, it felt so fucking good but he wasn’t going there when Haru was like _this_. As usually, Rin wouldn’t give a fuck but this insistent drunk Haru wasn’t the quiet guy he’d bumped into the streets.

“I want to. I want you,” Haru said.

“Fuck,” Rin panted through parted lips as being told he was wanted was a huge turn on but he grabbed for the hand on his groin and now he was holding both.

“I want you, fuck, I really do, Haru. But you are drunk and this… isn’t a good idea, right?”

Haru made a noise low in his throat and Rin let go of those hands, moving his hand to Haru’s jaw and running the pad of his thumb over his lips, still moist from their kiss.

"You are fucking hot... But I want you to remember it and not regret it in the morning."

His words were sincere and Rin wondered what the fuck was wrong with him, as usually in this situation they'd be on the bed at least, probably already fucking, but shit, Haru wasn't a one night stand like his usual guys. Nor did he want him to be. Rin shook his head to banish sentiment, his wet hair against his face. 

"Look, get ready for bed and I'll get you some water and something to eat, okay?"

The answer was a nod and Rin turned away as he was undoing suit pants and he didn't know if his libido could take anymore. When he got home, he'd be jerking off thinking about Haru, damn he knew that.

He went in search of some food, making a toast in the kitchen, getting a glass of water and he noted the neatness and the fact that the place was nice. And Rin thought for a second now that Haru wasn't kissing him or shoving his hands down his pants. This place _was_ Haru's parents place, and he pondered the tense.

Shit, an art show was a big deal and Haru had only had friends in attendance and shit...

Rin paused. Maybe they weren't around. Maybe that's why he'd got drunk and fucked up.

With toast and water, Rin walked back to Haru's bedroom fearing that he'd be naked and demanding and he didn't have _that_ much control. If Haru had been lying, naked, hot and horny then Rin wouldn't be able to resist. But he wasn't.

He was in bed, the covers ineffectually covering some of his perfect body and Rin swallowed admiring it, those strong legs and toned thighs, leading up to his boxer briefs, tight, then there was perfect abs that Rin wanted to lick and taste. Rin was drawn to him and his eyes drifted up to see his face, his strong jawline and to his eyes, closed,

Haru was asleep. And he looked peaceful and younger somehow, less intense and Rin took a deep breath, leaving the water and toast on the side table and he leant over, brushed a kiss over Haru's lips pausing for a second before he walked away, leaving him there sleeping.

As he left, Rin took a second, closing the door behind him, unsurprised when he heard noise and saw Haru's friend enter the apartment, followed by Sousuke which was a surprise. He frowned but didn't ask anything.

"Haru?"

"Asleep. Got a little drunk."

The friend nodded and offered a hand to Rin which he took.

"Makoto."

"Rin."

"Thanks for..." Makoto said and Rin shrugged.

"Don't mention it. He's a good guy."

Makoto nodded and then awkwardly shoved a hand in his pocket. "Tonight was hard... His paintings were about the day his parents died. Guess it got to him."

Rin tried not to react, used to being "the Shark" and emotionless and he guessed he understood now. Haru had wanted to forget - he wanted Rin to fuck him because of that and he had been trying not to show how he felt. 

"Yeah, guess that was hard for him," he said casually, "I should go. I'll be in touch with him tomorrow."

There was little else to say, Sousuke followed him, a brief moment of eye contact between him and Makoto that made Rin pause, but they left, one of Rin's organisation’s town cars parked outside and he threw himself into the seat, his mood dark.

Shit, maybe Haru had only wanted him to forget about something horrible. And Rin understood that. As seeing his father murdered in front of his eyes had made him “the Shark". 

 

 

 


	9. Race Me

It took Haru three days to text Rin. He felt embarrassed and sorry for himself, annoyed at his own reactions and every time he thought of what he’d done he’d feel his face burn and he’d retreat into the bath or paint something in his room. It wasn’t until Makoto stole his phone, holding it up high and threatening to text Rin for him did Haru consent. It seemed that Makoto thought he was being stupid so Haru sent the message, eagerly awaiting the response and got invited for lunch at Rin’s office at Samezuka Corp.

At least he could apologise. Though a part of him didn’t feel sorry, but then a part of him was embarrassed to face Rin. Especially when the last time they’d come face to face had been when Haru had put his hands down Rin’s pants, kissed him and stroked his cock. His face burnt again at that thought as he entered the plush lobby of the office building, looking around at the glass and chrome and marble.

Rin had told him to visit reception to get a visitors pass and then he’d be directed to Rin’s floor, so he did as instructed, approaching the desk and the smiling young woman. She looked at him with a small look of distaste briefly as she saw his clothing. Haru had thought to wear something that wasn’t paint splattered knowing that Rin’s office was in the business district, but he still wore a stripped t-shirt, a hoodie over the top and jeans. He wasn’t wearing his damn suit again. Not for a long while.

“I have an appointment with Rin,” he said and then realised he didn’t give enough information adding the “Matsuoka” with an embarrassed mumble.

“And you are?”

“Haruka Nanase.”

Her suspicious look soon turned into a wide smile. “Oh yes! I’ve been expecting you! Here is your visitors pass…”

She talked a lot as she gave him his pass, directed him where to go and Haru was glad when he was in the glass elevator that led him up to the top floor. He got out after its speedy ascent and walked out into a long hallway with another desk at the end, this time manned by a young man with silver hair who was glancing at a computer screen before he turned and saw Haru.

“Haru! Would you like a seat? Water? A soda? Alcohol?”

Haru had barely walked a few feet when the enthusiastic young man was trying to ply him with drinks and something to eat but he shook his head and just took a seat on a plush leather couch, reaching for a magazine about sports cars and thumbing through it while he waited. He’d been informed Rin would be right out and so he looked at the cars and sat quietly, listening to the sound of some annoying muzak in the background.

It was then he heard shouting, a thudding noise and he glanced over to see the silver haired guy looking concerned and stand up, walking towards the door to Rin’s office. Haru stood too, curious and puzzled as he saw the door fly open wide and a man with bright red hair being dragged out by the man he’d seen at his show. The “driver” was manhandling him out of Rin’s office, pulling him down the corridor. 

“Fuck you, Rin!” he shouted over the dark haired guys shoulder. “You just wait…. You motherfucker...!”

Haru watched wide eyed at the guy, at his swearing and shouting and struggling. He finally pushed the “driver” away. “You don’t need to drag me out, Sousuke, I’ll leave on my fucking own,” he said angrily.

And with that, the flame haired man put his fingers up in a thoroughly impolite gesture and left towards the elevator though the dark haired guy – Sousuke – followed.

It was then Haru saw Rin, his body leaning against his desk in a suit, a dark expression on his face and he barked to the young man with silver hair.

“Nitori, get on security – Seijuurou is not allowed in the building ever again, you hear?”

Haru observed him - Nitori - do as Rin instructed quickly, and it was then when Rin noticed him, his facial expression changing within a second, his lips parted in a gasp.

“Haru…” he murmured.

He got the sense that Rin had not wanted him to see what had just happened but he wasn’t sure why. Instead he just shrugged.

“You said come at twelve,” he replied neutrally.

“Yeah, come in…. it’s been a helluva morning.”

Haru walked into the office, his eyes wide as he saw the view from the large floor to ceiling windows, the panoramic of the whole city. His own view was nice from his apartment but this… this was something else. He also noted the large oak desk, the bookshelves with heavy volumes of vintage volumes, the jerseys on the walls from famous sporting men – signed and dedicated to Rin and he gasped.

“This is your company.”

Rin nodded. “Yeah… well it was my dad’s but after his death, me and my ex-partner took it over. You just met him.”

“Ex-partner?” Haru inquired.

“Yeah… nothing you need to worry about,” Rin said, his eyes downcast and he finally looked up and met Haru’s eyes fully. “Wanna go for a swim before lunch?”

There was that smirk and that bright look in Rin’s eyes, the darkness now abating and Haru nodded. “I don’t have a swimsuit.”

“I’ve got you covered.”

Haru didn’t question as Rin stripped off his suit jacket and then took him back to near the elevator, Nitori’s gaze on them, and Haru was surprised when he was led to the stairwell, following Rin’s athletic body up a flight of stairs until they came to a door. Haru had used the opportunity of being behind Rin to admire the curve of his ass, his sculpted muscles and it reminded him of their last meeting, when he’d been shoving his hand down Rin’s pants, and he felt the blush rising again. Yet that soon was gone as Rin opened the door and they were bathed in light and warmth.

As on the roof of Samezuka Corp. was a pool with glass walls and a glass roof. Haru could look up and see blue perfect skies, rolling clouds and look down to the depths of an Olympic sized pool. He glanced to Rin who was stripping, his tie being pulled off and being thrown to the floor, the buttons of his shirt being undone and Haru swallowed realising that he was going to see more of Rin than he previously thought as the shirt was thrown off. He was unbuttoning suit pants, pushing them down, Haru seeing black boxer briefs, and then he had to glance away as he realised how Rin had him covered – he was naked.

For a moment he saw Rin’s naked back before he dived into the pool, seeing his back and shoulders, his ass, his thighs and Haru admired his body, licking his lips subtly.

He felt some of the splash from Rin’s entry and he watched him dive, returning to the surface moments later, his bright hair plastered to his face and a smirk on his lips. “Joining me?”

Haru knew what that meant. It meant stripping and so he grabbed for the hem of his t-shirt, pulling it off and over his body and throwing it to the floor. Rin’s eyes narrowed and watched his actions and for some reason Haru felt hot as his jeans and sneakers ended up on the poolside as well. Finally he ended up in his grey boxers and he toyed with the waistband for a moment before he dropped them, fully naked in front of Rin. He hadn’t turned and Haru didn’t want him to, as he dived into the pool in one elegant motion, breaking the surface and breathing deeply, finding his bearings and Rin.

“Race?” Rin asked, his tone teasing, his eyes bright and Haru nodded, kicking to the edge of the pool and stopping there alongside him.

“Go!”

He heard Rin’s word, knew that Rin would get a moment’s head start but that didn’t matter as Haru took a deep breath and dove, kicking his legs, feeling the rush of water over his skin. He was glad they hadn’t suggested diving in from the side, as the nudity together would’ve been more than Haru could’ve handled, but under the water, he felt freer than he had for some time, the liquid caressing his skin.

When the turn came, Haru flipped, his eyes opening to see the blue of the sky and the shift of the clouds and then he was swimming again, gliding through the water and all he could hear was the roar of the water in his eardrums and the beat of his heart. He glanced to see Rin’s position, seeing that he was level and he kicked hard, moved his arms in deep sweeping motions and found the edge approaching, hitting it with his hand, and taking a deep breath once he’d made his goal.

It was unclear who had won as Rin was there beside him, his hair slicked back and his breath panting and Haru saw his smirk again.

“Guess we’ll call it a draw, right?”

Haru nodded, his eyes intent on Rin, they were close enough in the water to touch, so Haru did, reaching out a hand to Rin’s firm bicep, feeling the muscles and caressing the shark tattoo. Rin looked at where Haru’s eyes were gazing and shifted in the water, shifted enough for Haru to feel the ripples around him until he felt Rin’s body press against him and lips capture his against the side of the pool.


	10. Draw

This time Haru wasn’t drunk and Rin took the initiative, pushing Haru against the side of the pool, aligning their bodies underneath the water so that chests met chests and groins met groins. Last time they’d been this close had involved Haru shoving his hands down Rin’s pants but this time there was no need for that as they were both fully naked, surrounded by water.

Their lips met softly, the taste of chlorine from the pool and when Haru opened his mouth, Rin thrust his tongue inside, running it along teeth and palate, finding Haru’s tongue to tease and wrestle with. Their hips automatically bumped and Rin could feel the planes of Haru’s firm body, the feel of his cock hardening in attention and Rin’s was rapidly growing stiffer at the sensual feeling of hard wet skin next to his.

When Haru moaned softly, reaching for Rin’s hair and grabbing it, Rin was losing his mind and dragged his hand down Haru’s body, feeling the ripples of his abdominal muscles, the line of his hipbones until his fingers found his cock, fully hard now and he grasped it in a loose fist. Their lips parted as Haru’s hand found its way to Rin’s dick, holding it in reciprocation, their holds firm and hands tugging at each other with quick motions underneath the water. The slide of Haru’s hand made Rin jerk into his fist, enjoying the sensation he was creating. His technique differed from Rin’s own, the long strokes taking him from base to tip and making Rin pant helplessly as he felt the rapid movement over his cock.

Their lips met again, the fierceness of the kiss increasing as their bodies created delicious friction, their hands frantically working each other's dicks, the high of it thrumming underneath Rin's skin. The kiss was accompanied by nipping on lips, by playful teasing swipes of tongue and it was the hottest kiss Rin had ever had. And he had kissed and fucked numerous people. But so far none compared to Haru. From their aborted sexual encounter in Haru’s apartment to now, the splashing and splatter of water around them, no one had ever made Rin feel this electric, his cock twitching from the incredible pressure.

The pent up need, the desire, all made the encounter quicker than Rin wanted, and Rin pulled from the kiss as the heady feeling he had from meeting Haru’s lips was making him dizzy and liable to lose his position in the water and sink. Instead, he let his head descend onto Haru's shoulder, breathing in the scent of pool water and slick skin until his mouth began to bite down on his flesh, biting, claiming him, marking Haru as he approached orgasm. Haru's hand sped up on his cock, the feeling spirally up his spine and his body ground forward, breathing deeply into Haru's skin as he came, a low “fuck” the only word that would fall from his lips. Momentarily lost, his hand stalled on the hard dick in his hand until he felt Haru jerk forward and he re-started his firm strokes, loving the little moans that spilled from Haru’s lips until he felt him shudder against him, his whole body leaning closer to Rin’s as though anchoring him in the water.

Holding each other, panting and kissing gently over each other’s skin, Rin felt a calm that he hadn't felt for so fucking long and he moved his head up to look at Haru's eyes, smirking at him and brushing their lips together gently.

"Draw?" he asked against their lips.

"I won. You came first," Haru replied, his face teasing.

Rin chuckled. "I thought it was who came first that won?"

Haru smacked him gently across the arm and Rin splashed him in the face in response. They smiled at each other and Rin arched an eyebrow before they descended into a splash fight, both of them pulling and pushing at each other, diving into the water deep, dunking their heads under and playing like they were kids. Rin kept Haru close, each touch of their skin incredible after their shared orgasm and he just wanted to touch any part of him he could reach, even if it was so he could drag him under the water.

"Lunch?" Rin asked after a brief truce was called, which had involved Haru deciding to shove his tongue down Rin’s throat and he knew he didn’t have time for round two. Not right now. He had to sort out the mess from Seijuurou’s departure. Make sure anyone loyal to him in his organisation was spoken to or fired or worse. Rin had a bad feeling about his now former partner but he didn’t let that thought spoil this moment. Not yet. 

After some more playful splashing and dragging each other underneath the water, they finally dressed while sharing kisses and teasing touches seemingly unable to keep their hands off each other. And Rin loved it as Haru was just as playful with his smacks on Rin’s ass and touches to his abs. This playful side to Haru was fun and one he wanted to see more often. Once they were dressed and dried, they walked to the small circular table to eat the food that had been waiting for them, the spread of sushi and fruit chilled on a plate of ice.

Rin watched Haru intently, watched him eat, and realised, fuck, this was stupid. They'd just shared hand jobs and he already was like some love sick puppy or a chick or something. He tried to steel himself, remember he was “the Shark” but then Haru looked up at him and he saw those sparking blue eyes. Rin had never been in love. He’d cared for people before but not beyond a booty call or a few dates and fuck, if this was it, he wasn’t sure whether he liked it. He was so used to being cool, calm, collected and Haru made him feel shit he wasn’t used to. Yet he couldn’t stop himself. Couldn’t stop himself from asking a stupid ass question.

"You have plans tonight?"

Haru shrugged. "Nothing."

"Come to mine. Dinner. Movie."

There was a small smirk on Haru's face and Rin leant over to kiss it off, feeling oddly afraid by how natural the move felt, how much it was a mark of a “couple” or “lovers” – not two people who’d shared a few kisses and jerked each other off. Haru railroaded his thoughts with his answer.

"That's it?"

"Unless you want more?" Rin asked, his voice becoming lower, huskier, as sexy as he could make it.

Haru didn't respond, only popped a bit of fish in his mouth and looked away which made something in Rin’s gut drop. Pathetic, he thought, pathetic that someone who scared cops, who scared rival gangs, who even scared his own damn partner, was made to feel shitty by one blue eyed dark haired art student.

"How do I get there?" Haru said, his fish now eaten, his eyes meeting Rin’s.

Rin smiled, genuinely and without any tease at Haru's agreement. "My driver will pick you up. I might be late…I have business to attend to but just make yourself at home."

He left the words hanging between them, as his over active libido hoped that Haru interpreted them as hot hard and naked in his bed, but Rin was not going to push his luck. As much as he wanted him like that. He didn’t mind if they worked from the couch to his bedroom, imagining how Haru would look in the mirror on his bedroom ceiling. He found it hard to think about that without a tingle of arousal surfacing so he ignored that feeling and instead focused on the food.

They passed the rest of the lunch making random small talk, Haru asking about Rin's work and Rin evasively answering.

It was only as Haru left, as Rin walked him to the lobby of the building and said goodbye, that Rin realised he probably shouldn't have brought him here. He noted the curious glances of some of his staff and frowned, as he didn’t want gossip, no fucking way, and especially not about Haru. But as Haru left, with a small smile on his face and his dark hair still damp, Rin shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels as he thought it was worth it. Worth the gossip from some overly bored paper pushers he employed, because Haru had been gorgeous and so goddamn happy in the pool.

And after all, he’d only brought Haru into the legitimate side of his company. He'd never let him see the violent side. Never let Haru see “the Shark”.


	11. At Last

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to update on Haru's birthday... and apologies for forgetting to respond to people's reviews. Busy week *phew*

Rin’s home was not somewhere Haru could feel comfortable. It was elaborate, expensive, and he sat awkwardly on the leather couch at first after walking around it, seeing the shark tank, tapping his finger against the glass and disturbing one from underneath a small pretend ship wreck.

After his exploration, he had got a drink, non-alcoholic, and took his seat, until he allowed himself to lean back into the soft leather, bringing out the sketchpad he’d brought with him anticipating the wait.

The driver had collected him, saying nothing and Haru had appreciated that. He didn’t want to make polite conversation, explain who he was and why he was visiting Rin, as this was, what – a booty call? Something more. In his exploration he’d seen Rin had a mirror on the ceiling of his bedroom and he wondered whether it said something about his sexual experimentation side and Haru felt unsure briefly. He wondered what Rin’s experience was like, but Haru was no virgin, and Rin was fucking gorgeous and rich and had that goddamn body. He was probably fucking someone different in the bed every week.

So instead of letting himself get depressed or think too much, he put on a small lamp and began to draw, fading out and forgetting those fears as he drew Rin and the water. He zoned out, concentrating on his art and remembering all the details of their kiss and their touching underneath the water. Haru remembered the feel of the side of the pool, cold against his back, and the feel of the water sliding on his skin as their lips met, the taste of chlorine on his tongue and he was drawing both of them, the details flittering behind his eyes.

It wasn’t that he went totally into his own world, just that he was thinking so hard on the memory and what he wanted to show on the page, so he didn’t hear Rin enter his apartment, and only looking up when he realised he was being watched by the guy, who stood casually, his arms folded across his chest.

“Hey,” Rin said, his voice low and sending shivers up Haru’s spine, “I got pizza. Thought it was a neutral choice.”

Haru smiled as Rin walked over, removing his tie and his jacket casually and leaning over the back of the couch to look at the drawing, his breath in Haru’s ear. “That’s us.”

It was. Them. In the pool, kissing, their arms around each other and Haru nodded, turning to face Rin, leaning up then in instinct for a kiss that recreated the heat of their moments in the pool. It felt good and Haru soon found himself kneeling up on Rin’s plush leather couch, his sketchpad dropping to the floor as his knees sunk into the material. Haru wrapped his arms around Rin’s neck so that they could kiss, their lips meeting slick and hot, their tongues wrestling with intent and Haru tried not to moan when Rin reached for the small of his back, trying to drag him closer despite the back of the couch in the way. 

Rin pulled away and Haru tried not to look hurt, as it reminded him of Rin’s reluctance when he was drunk, but he smirked at him, running the pad of his thumb across Haru’s lips. “The pizza will get cold…”

Haru shook his head, his hair falling in his eyes. “Let it.”

He grabbed for Rin’s hair, dragging him in for an even more passionate kiss and he felt like he wanted to crawl inside him, wanted something deep and meaningful and some connection – to _feel_ again and, as he felt Rin’s soft hair in his fingers and tongue in his mouth, Haru was feeling something like he’d not for so fucking long. Not since he’d lost his parents.

They ended the kiss reluctantly, Rin catching Haru’s bottom lip in his teeth as they parted and Haru moaned at the roughness as he liked it.

“Bed or here?” Rin panted.

“Bed.”

As much as Haru was impatient, he wanted sheets and maybe he was curious about how they’d look together, how it would look when Rin fucked him against those expensive sheets so he hopped up and followed Rin who was walking towards his bedroom, dropping more clothes as he went.

Haru swallowed as he saw Rin turn, smirk, his shirt gone and it seemed like his feet walked on their own volition, bringing them face to face again, and Haru ran his fingers to that shark tattoo.

“Why sharks?” he asked, his voice smooth as he stroked it.

“It’s who I am,” Rin said heavily. “Haru… you should know something about me… I’m not a good guy…They call me ‘the Shark’… you could call me a gangster, I guess…”

Haru stopped the words, as he suspected something like that, and he grabbed for Rin’s jaw. “I don’t care.”

Their lips met again, something magnetic bringing them together, and Rin was fumbling with Haru’s belt, pulling at his t-shirt as they finally managed to get to the bed.

They fell in an inelegant sprawl, their bodies grinding together, most of their clothes gone and they fumbled with the rest until they were both completely naked, bare cocks hard and grinding together, hands gripping abs and biceps and thighs as they continued their worship of each other’s bodies. Haru had never felt this liberated. This wanted, and when Rin’s fingers reached for his entrance, ghosting there and teasing he only whispered into Rin’s ear breathily.

“Fuck me.”

Rin groaned at the request, moving off him briefly and Haru moved himself to the middle of the bed, spreading his legs and pumping his own aching cock in anticipation. When Rin returned, a bottle of lube and a condom in hand, Haru saw how his eyes watched the movement of his hand as he returned to the bed.

“Fuck, you are beautiful…” Rin whispered, the words barely audible and Haru’s blue eyes gazed up into the mirror on the ceiling, seeing how he looked.

He didn’t think he looked beautiful. Not like Rin with that body that resembled a marble statue, from those intense and intriguing coloured eyes, and not with that hair that ached to be touched and pulled on as they fucked. But he didn’t have time to say those things as he felt a finger slide inside him, the instant pain/pleasure of it short circuiting his brain as Rin began to prepare his body, licking and lapping at his neck as he did.

Rin was careful, kissing him, distracting him by mouthing at his pulse and when Haru bucked back onto his three fingers, Rin pulled them out, securing the condom on his cock, and then leant over Haru, their faces level for one moment.

“Ready?”

Haru nodded, words impossible, his throat raw and he only wrapped a leg around Rin’s perfect waist, dragging him in closer and he felt the head start to push inside, the feel of Rin pushing in making his head fall back against the pillows and for him to stare at the mirror, seeing how they looked together – Rin’s vibrant hair and his own dark, their bodies melding, sweaty and slick and perfect.

The burn of penetration wasn’t too painful when Rin kissed him, when Rin’s stroked his cock and he wanted the fiery sex he fantasied about, the heat of it pooling in his gut, and when he felt ready, Haru grabbed for Rin’s strong shoulders and wrapped a hand around the shark tattoo and jerked his hips up indicating his wants and needs.

“You’re incredible, Haru…” Rin murmured.

“Only as much as you.”

It was the last words they spoke apart from mumbled curses, from each other’s names spilt out between pants and grunts as Rin pulled out to slam back into Haru, his cock hot and fast, thrusting deeply into Haru’s body with fast hard jabs. Haru grabbed at Rin’s skin, digging his fingernails and tried to meet his thrusts, tried to bring him deeper into himself, and each incredible push in made Rin’s balls slap against his ass as they fucked with a rawness Haru had never experienced.

The pace increased, Rin kneeling up and grabbed for Haru’s thigh, kissing his skin, and putting it over his shoulder, and his thrusts were then even more powerful, Haru putting a hand on the headboard so that he could push back into each perfectly timed stroke of Rin’s cock inside him.

Haru got close quickly, his moans and pants louder than he’d ever been and his eyes were squeezed shut as he surrendered to the onslaught of Rin’s incredible body. He was so close he was going to come without any stimulation to his cock and he could feel it steadily leaking as Rin took him to heights he’d never been.

With some more powerful thrusts, Haru got so close that he knew climax was approaching, his thighs tensing and he opened his eyes to see Rin and gasped.

He was gorgeous, sweaty, his eyes closed, his mouth parted in pleasure and he looked so fucking hot. That, with a few more powerful thrusts, Haru came, his back arching as he felt his cock spurt, cum pooling on his stomach and even his chest.

Rin followed after a few more thrusts that shook the bed, falling onto Haru in a sprawl and kissing his cheek and jaw and neck with fervent, but gentle, butterfly kisses. After a few moments, Haru twitched up, feeling sticky and the heavy weight of Rin’s body on top of his own, and Rin took the hint, rolling off him and staring up at the ceiling mirror.

Their eyes met in the mirror, both of them looking dishevelled and sweaty and covered in bodily fluids, and Rin just smiled that perfect fucking smile, making Haru quirk his lips in return.

“Pizza now?”

“Shower first, then pizza,” Haru answered as he turned over to kiss Rin.

“Oh yeah…you just wait until you see my shower if you thought my bedroom was impressive.”

Haru only raised an eyebrow as Rin got up, padding to a door and Haru followed, his eyes gazing at Rin’s perfect ass as they made their way to his bathroom. And Rin was right. The shower was impressive.


	12. Shark in the Water

The sound of his alarm woke Rin, unsurprised as last night had been fucking intense. He smiled into his pillow, the scent of sex filling his bedroom and covering his sheets and he was still so high from a night of incredible sex with Haru. And tired. His mouth tasted weird and his head felt fuzzy as he lay on the bed, his grin hidden by his pillow.

He usually woke early, went out for a jog, went for a swim or to the gym, but this time his body had been put through enough exercises and it needed rest. It needed rest from the session in the shower when Haru had pushed him up against the wall and fucked him. Which Rin had figured would happen as soon as they approached the shower. Of course, Haru had to have a kink for shower sex with the water obsession.

Then they’d managed to eat pizza, re-heated, eating it dressed in towels and nothing else on Rin’s couch. It was after pizza, the sustenance that they started again, unable to keep their hands off each other and Rin had enjoyed pushing Haru up against the glass of his apartment window and blowing Haru until he came into his mouth, shouting his name. It was intoxicating with Haru and, fuck, Rin was getting hard just remembering it all and he hadn’t even looked over to the other side of the bed.

He moved his head, slowly, feeling a little dizzy from the intensity of their fucks, and then saw there was an indent of where Haru should’ve been but no Haru. He’d promised last night he’d stay for breakfast and Rin sat up, scratching at his hair and reached around on the floor for some boxers so he could go in search of Haru.

He checked the bathroom, remembering the shower fondly, and then, on not seeing him there, went to the kitchen to see if he was getting food. He didn’t sniff anything so figured not but Rin was eternally hopeful. On seeing no Haru, he paused and then went to get his phone in his bedroom hoping that there would be a message on it and he scowled as he arrived back as he noticed… as he noticed Haru’s clothes were still where they’d come off in their haste to get each other naked, and, fuck, he then noticed his cell was on the side where it had got abandoned after Haru called Makoto to tell him… to tell him he was staying over.

Rin grit his teeth, a panic suddenly surfacing in his gut as he found his own cell in his pants pocket, discarded where they had fallen en-route to the bedroom and with fumbling impatient hands he brought it out, swallowing hard as he saw there were messages. And not just messages. Visual clips.

He growled in anger, tempted to throw the phone but he reluctantly pressed play, his hand shaking even as he knelt on the floor looking at the screen of his phone.

There was Haru. Haru in only boxer shorts, Haru with a gag in his mouth, Haru looked scared and panicked with his hands bound behind his back and Rin felt something drop out of his stomach. As how the fuck…how the fuck…

Then Seijuurou appeared in the screen, smiling, and Rin felt his eyes narrow seeing his smug face that he would like to slam his fist into. He wanted the bastard dead as he realised what had happened.

The motherfucker had broken into his apartment as he had the key code. And Rin had forgotten to change it due to the events of the day… of Haru being in his apartment when he came back, and he was so fucking angry with himself for not having woken up when Haru had been taken - but then he wondered… the dryness in his mouth – had he been sedated somehow? Fuck.

“Like I said… I’m not done with you Matsuoka. If you want your fuck toy back, give me what you owe me and I won’t harm a hair on his head.”

His look was cold harsh and Rin was barely able to stop himself from crushing his phone in his fingertips.

“Otherwise…” he murmured and then made his hands into a pretend gun, smirking and pretending to cock it and fire, “I’ll do worse. You know I can and will.”

Rin knew. He’d been very good at torture, at interrogation and Rin had seen it first-hand. And the thought of those hands on Haru’s skin, on his chest, on his thighs, cutting into that skin and making him bleed was too fucking much and Rin was unable to stop his body from shaking in anger at the thought.

“You meet me… we talk, right? All nice. I’ll tell you my demands and we work it out.”

The one-sided conversation was annoying but Rin only stared, seeing Haru’s body in the background.

“Let’s go to our coffee shop… I’ve been meaning to say ‘hi’ to your sister as well… oh I’m missed her. I’ve missed her mouth and her –“ Seijuurou stopped himself and laughed, “well, stuff a brother shouldn’t know, right?”

He was trying to bait him, Rin knew it, wanting him to do something stupid and Rin could only bite at his bottom lip and stare at the screen.

“Meet me at one p.m. Alone. We’ll talk and until then…. I won’t hurt him.”

The video then showed Haru and Rin let a small sound escape his lips then as he saw him looking vulnerable and hurt. And he fucking hated it.

Haru was not meant to be in his world, but Rin had brought him into it, and now he was fucked. With anger coursing through his veins, Rin dressed, a whirlwind of motion. He grabbed for jeans, for a t-shirt with a skull laughing, mocking -Rin felt it was appropriate-, and he put a hoodie on over the top. He quickly tied back his hair into a ponytail, not bothering to look at the outcome as he pulled the hoodie over his head, walking then through his apartment with an intent he’d never felt before. He was “the Shark” right now – sleek, deadly, dangerous, sniffing blood in the water and it was Seijuurou’s blood. It was his blood that was going to flow, and Rin imagined the thrill of beating him with his fists, kicking him hard in the stomach and then shooting him in the head.

He approached his own safe, hidden behind a large painting, some piece of expensive modern art he did not care for and he stared at it for a moment. It was just geometric shapes and he reached out to touch the paint on the surface, thinking of how he could have one of Haru’s pieces on his wall, and that made his heart clench as he turned to see the sketchpad on the floor, walking over to see them together, the picture only in pencil but perfect, the emotions of that moment engrained on Rin’s heart.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Haru,” he whispered, his thumb smudging some of the pencil as he ran over it.

As he wasn’t. Fuck, he wasn’t. Rin stormed back over to his safe, removed the painting from the wall and input the codes to open it, pausing and waiting as it opened automatically revealing weapons and money in bundles. He picked a handgun and then picked up some of the cash. If Seijuurou wanted cash, Rin would let him have it. If he wanted more….

Well, that was what the gun was for. He looked in the safe once more, pulling out a fine blade, the point sharp and he touched the tip, feeling the pinprick of blood. Rin was not afraid of blood and violence, not when someone he loved life was at risk, and for Haru, he would do what he needed to do. What he wished he’d been able to do when his father had died. But he’d been too young. To helpless. Only able to watch his body fall, killed by one of his own men.

He packed up what he needed, picking up a duffle bag to put the cash and weapons in, and then picked up his phone where he’d left it, speed dialling number one.

It took only a few seconds for it to be answered, a gruff “yeah” heard as though Rin had woken him from sleep. “Sousuke. The bastard kidnapped Haru.”

There was nothing much else Rin needed to say as within the hour, he was sat with Sousuke in a warehouse owned by his company, a laptop open and plans of his own business laid out on the floor. They were surrounded by weapons of various sizes, gun of all calibres and a sword that had taken heads in the past. Rin was looking deadly serious as he calculated in his head what he would offer the traitor. And what he would do otherwise.

Sousuke tried to make him eat, tried to reassure him, but Rin was all pent-up aggression and barely restrained violence, only finding comfort when Sousuke suggested some sparring, loving the feel of landing punches, imagining that his loyal bodyguard and driver was Seijuurou and he was punching him.

It did little good, but it whiled away the hours until they had their stupid meeting, the two of them driving to it with a plentiful supply of weapons, and Rin felt his heart harden, his sentimentality disappear, as he and Seijuurou had been childhood friends, but when it came to Haru, even after this short time, Rin would do anything. Which meant killing him if he had to. Rin Matsuoka was not called “the Shark” for nothing.

 


	13. Captured and an Escape

Haru had been sleeping beside Rin, his body exhausted and sated from a night of incredible sex. He’d felt so damn good, every nerve in his body still thrumming from the high of orgasm that, when he woke up to noise, he guessed it would be Rin to initiate another round, something despite his tiredness he would be more than willing to do. But he soon realised something was wrong when a hand clasped over his mouth, not in affection and he found his body becoming weak, his head spinning as he opened his eyes, panicking as an unfamiliar person loomed over him. He’d tried to turn his head to see Rin but then he’d lost consciousness, his mind going blank even as he panicked, even as he felt himself fade into some blackness that he’d never felt before.

It was like drowning. He wondered if it was how his parents felt as they died. And that was the last thought he had as he slipped into the scary weightlessness of complete unconsciousness.

When he woke up, he was still only in the boxer shorts he’d slept in, that he picked up off Rin’s bedroom floor after their last fuck, and he was cold, his hands bound behind his back as he sat on a metallic floor, the chill seeping into his bones, his mouth gagged, so he could do nothing.

He realised that a cell phone was videoing him and he tried to move, kick out but he realised his feet were also restrained and he was helpless. He heard the man, remembering him now from Rin’s office, the red haired man who had promised retribution and Haru realised that he was being used as his payback against Rin.

The speech finished, the guy walked up to him, smiling widely and Haru grunted around his gag as the man reached to touch his cheek, hating the fact that he touched him places Rin had.

“Rin never lets them stay over… you must be special. We can use that.”

Haru struggled and then he felt a pinprick at his neck, feeling again the awful feeling of slipping into blackness again, angry and cold, his cheek pressed into the metal flooring.

The next time Haru woke he was disorientated, confused but not as cold as he was lying on a thin mattress and a blanket covering him though he was still only in his boxer shorts. As his eyes opened, they felt gummy and sticky, his body heavy and it took a few moments to realise where he was. And he also realised that someone was sitting opposite him, her hands bound in front of her, her eyes a startling colour and her hair a familiar red and he tried to move, swallowing, his throat dry.

“Shhh… don’t move,” she said quietly, “make them think you’re still asleep. We might be able to escape.”

Haru nodded and he mouthed quietly. “Are you… Rin’s sister?”

It was clear she was, pretty and bright eyed and she only inclined her head to confirm it, her eyes widening and Haru took that as his cue pretending to be asleep again, pretending that he hadn’t come around for whatever drug they’d put in his neck. As he closed his eyes, his senses became heightened listening to footsteps walking across the floor outside the room and he wriggled a small amount when he heard them go further away again.

He realised then that his hands were no longer tied and he processed that information, opening his eyes again to look at where they were. He looked back towards the girl and she nodded, confirming it was safe again.

“Do you know where we are?” he asked.

She nodded. “Coffee shop.”

Haru realised then what the familiar aroma was, his eyes becoming more focused, clearer as he scanned the room around him, seeing the bags and supplies for the coffee shop. It was the place he and Rin had first gone to after… after they met. After that fateful meeting where they’d “bumped” into one another and collided into each other’s lives.

He wondered why here but then he heard footsteps again and the door open partially, checking on them and he saw her look defiantly up.

“He awake?”

“No,” she replied and Haru remained motionless until he had gone again. One of the flame-haired guys’ goons.

“Untie me.”

Haru nodded, getting to his knees and he saw her eyes take in his mostly naked body and he would’ve commented were it not another situation. Tell her he was Rin’s to look at or something but instead all he did was crawl across to her and first untied her feet, then her hands, carefully seeing how hard they’d bound them. The ropes had left impressions in her delicate skin and she rubbed at them when they were removed.

“You look like you could take out the guard…” she mumbled under her breath, her eyes scanning Haru’s muscular frame, “I’ll distract him next time he comes around.”

It seemed that’s why she had been checking him out and Haru only nodded in response, waiting in the gloom of the storeroom. He wondered what was going on outside, wondering whether Rin was trying to find him, save him and he thought about his own eagerness last night.

He should’ve asked more about what it meant to be “the Shark” as this was an obvious result of Rin being some powerful gangster but Haru didn’t want to care about who Rin was or had been. All he wanted was the Rin who put him to bed when drunk, who kissed him in the goddamn rain and fucked him with such passion and intensity his whole body had felt like it was exploding.

Haru was poised, crouched, moving to behind the door. He had moved a bag of coffee grounds and placed the blanket over it as a brief distraction when the guard next checked and Rin’s sister sat, pretending her hands were still bound.

“Your name?” Haru asked, suddenly realising he didn’t know.

“Kou. Though everyone uses Gou,” she said, her voice sounding like a sigh.

“Haru.”

She nodded. “Nice to meet you, Haru… my brother seems to like you.”

Gou gave him a wink and then there was no more time for conversation as the door opened, the guard checking the small storeroom once again.

“Can you loosen these?” she asked, holding up her hands, “they’re digging in and I can’t move my fingers anymore…”

Her voice sounded so young, so harmless that the guard moved forward and Haru acted as soon as he was in his sight, attacking from behind and grabbing at the man. He was big and burly, tall but Haru put a hand over his mouth and Gou helped by kicking at his legs. There was a tussle, some noise, but with some punches, some kicks, and the man was incapacitated.

They stripped him, Haru borrowing the black pants and track jacket, his ill-fitting sneakers and then bound him, his mouth gagged. After that was achieved, Haru walked cautiously to the door and looked out, trying to figure out how to get out of the situation. Or at least get Gou out of the way. He paused, looking both ways. One led into the coffee shop and he could see various men hanging around, their poses relaxed and casual as though they feared nothing and the flame-haired guy was there, sat drinking a coffee. They were all looking the wrong way and Haru gestured towards Gou.

The other way led to the emergency exit that Haru guessed would come out to a back alleyway. Gou approached and he whispered quietly.

“You go first.”

She gave a small smile and touched his arm, looking cautiously and then she moved quickly down the corridor, Haru checking on the men as she made her escape. He turned to see her get to the door and he prepared himself for his own move when he saw her reach it, pushing at it and he saw the clear brightness of the sunny day. He saw it briefly before hell broke loose.

Pushing the emergency exit set off an alarm and he saw Gou panic before he shouted “run!” to her as he attempted to follow. She did run, Haru seeing her leap into motion and make her way out of the back exit to the shop, the sound of the alarm buzzing and insistent in his head as he attempted to follow. He attempted to follow but it was just an attempt. A pitiful one as the men were on him before he could run a few steps, grabbing at him and Haru fell to the floor with a hard shove, his body connecting with it painfully.

They bound his hands again, tightly behind his back as he struggled, as he angrily writhed on the floor but it was pointless as he felt a barrel of a gun press against his head, the sound of the weapon being cocked a threat.

“Move and I blow your brains out.”

And, while Haru had been feeling little for so long, since Rin he felt so fucking much, so he stopped moving, stopped his fight and only grunted in pain as he was pulled up to his feet via his bound hands.

He wasn’t returned to the storeroom which surprised Haru, instead he was marched through to the main area of the shop seeing suddenly why that was.

As the flame haired guy was sat at a table, casually leaning back and drinking a coffee and opposite him, his eyes burning, a hood covering his distinctive hair, was Rin.

Their eyes met and Haru wanted nothing more than to reach out, but all he could do was get pushed to a booth to the side, a gun in his back and brutal men all around.

“So your fuck toy wanted to join us, I see…”


	14. The Meeting

They stopped outside the coffee shop, pausing there and Rin could see that the “closed” sign had been put across the door, that there were thugs loyal to Seijuurou filling the small space and he tried to get a closer look of the situation he was about to walk into but he couldn’t.

He just had to walk into it – head held high and showing no fear. Even though he did fear something. He feared for Haru’s safety like he’d never feared for anything before and it made him shiver. He didn’t like it.

Rin checked for his gun, kept his hood covering his head and hair and nodded to Sousuke before he exited the vehicle and walked towards the coffee shop he owned. As he approached, the door was opened by a heavy and Rin saw the bruises across his face and realised that, shit, they were the men Rin had beaten at Sharkbait. And Seijuurou had employed them. Fuck.

They glared at Rin through their bruises and Rin glared back, his eyes sparkling as he walked into the coffee shop seeing Seijuurou sat at a table waiting for his arrival. He’d even laid out some coffee, the black liquid still steaming hot and he took his seat opposite his old partner, his eyes hard and harsh as he sat down.

 “Matsuoka, I’m surprised you came alone. You never liked rules or orders or listening to other people. Your lapdog in the car?”

“Where’s Haru?” Rin asked, his voice level and harsh, his face set in grim determination.

“Straight to the point, Rin?”

He gritted his teeth. Rin did not have the patience to play games – not when Haru was being threatened and Seijuurou leant back in his chair putting his hands behind his head, his smirk and pose casual and relaxed.

“Where is he?” he repeated.

“He’s here. Safe. I didn’t hurt him. Yet.”

Rin let himself relax slightly. He didn’t trust him but then he knew Haru was his bargaining chip and he was too smart to lose it already. He took a sip of his coffee, sniffing it suspiciously first even though he knew he wasn’t _that_ smart. It tasted normal, good and he put the cup down, keeping his expression neutral, trying to stop his face from turning into a snarl.

“What do you want?”

“The business. Or at least what I’m owed.”

He snorted. “Which parts are you owed?”

“I’ll take this and Samezuka. You can have that stupid fucking club – it’s yours anyway. The rest I want.”

“And what makes you think I’ll give you it?”

“I have your boyfriend _and_ I have your sister.”

The only sound that left Rin’s lips to that was a “huh?” as he suddenly realised the bastard had Gou too. The sister he was supposed to care for, his father had put his hand on his shoulder when he was a boy, telling him he always had to care for her and then when she got older that she would remain hidden from this world. The world where blood was spilled and people were left bruised or worse. He tried to look calm but his hands clenched tight and he felt breath leave his lungs.

“You fucking- ”

He was about to lash out, his composure suddenly gone but as he moved, as his fists were about to connect with the assholes face, he stopped as the sound of an alarm screeched loudly and there was a panic from the assembled thugs. The alarm stopped him which he was glad of, as hitting Seijuurou would probably do no good and get him killed but he would’ve stopped anyway when he saw Haru there, Haru wearing some black track suit that looked a little big, his eyes widening as he saw Rin, his skin pale and some bruises on his face.

Rin felt his heart ache as, fuck, he never wanted Haru to get hurt. It was the last thing he wanted and he hated it. He never wanted to drag him into this. The only thing he could do was sit back down in front of the asshole and apologise in a look – meeting Haru’s eyes and trying to assure him in a gaze that it was okay – that Rin would get him out of this. Even if Rin didn’t feel particularly confident of that fact.

“We lost _her_ but we still got him,” one of the thugs said and Rin saw there was a gun pointed at Haru’s lower back and he figured that maybe they had attempted an escape.

It sounded as though Gou had made it. And Rin felt some relief at that. He didn’t want his sister anywhere near here – didn’t want her involved and he hoped that she had the sense to just keep running and not look back. Or that Sousuke had her. Either way he just hoped his sister was safe. For now and he could focus all his attention on getting back Haru and bargaining with the man who had once been his friend and partner.

“Stop pointing the gun at him. He has nothing to do with this,” Rin said.

“He tried to run away so we have to… you understand that, right?”

Rin only grunted as Haru was forced to sit at a booth, the thug now sitting opposite him and pointing the gun – aiming at his head. It made him angry as Rin was used to guns and violence, but Haru… wasn’t, and it made something inside him ache.

“I’m not giving you the business. It was my fathers.”

“It may’ve been your dads but _we_ made it into what it is. _I_ did and I got no fucking thanks. It was always _you_ with the corner office, the bodyguards and me? I was just supposed to follow your orders.”

He didn’t know what to say as, yeah, Seijuurou helped him – helped him when he needed someone to work with after his father’s death but while it was a partnership, it had always been Rin’s legacy – he was the “the Shark” and in the end… Seijuurou was nobody.

“I’ll pay you. I’ll buy you out,” Rin offered.

It was fair he thought, fair that he pay off Seijuurou – he had helped him but he knew it wasn’t going to be enough and he saw him nod towards one of his men and Rin got to his feet immediately as he saw the blade being pulled out, a long thin delicate sharp knife. One that a moment later was against Haru’s neck.

The thug pulled at his dark hair, exposing Haru’s pale throat – the throat that Rin had kissed and bit and licked hours before, and he was so fucking angry to see the rough treatment, the way the weapon was uptight against Haru’s throat, nearly cutting in. He saw Haru’s Adam’s apple bob but he remained calm and motionless as Rin tried not to react. His chair had fallen in his haste to get up and now that his attention was not on Haru, he saw all the weapons pointed at him.

“Buy me out? The only way you buy me out is if you give me control of Samezuka Corp. Fuck, I’ll let you keep this shithole, your warehouses, Sharkbait but I want that.”

Rin’s hands were in fists, shaking at his side as he glared. His head dropped, his eyes looking at the floor of the coffee shop and he felt the difficult decision weighing on him. As fuck, he was not going to get Haru killed. He wasn’t. Not when he found someone who wasn’t afraid or intimidated by who he was, who was sexy as fuck, and they’d had an incredible night of sex, and he was not going to lose him.

“And you free Haru?”

Seijuurou nodded and the knife moved from his throat. “Do the legal shit Matsuoka, sign all that to me and meet me at your rooftop pool,” he said, rising to his feet to stare him down. “How long do you need? A day, I guess?”

Rin shrugged. “Tomorrow night?”

“Yeah… tomorrow night it is….”

Rin watched as the thugs got ready to leave, getting weapons, and he saw one grab for Haru.

“Hey!” Rin shouted, moving then towards Haru, “don’t -!”

He wanted to say that they didn’t have to take Haru, that he would do what they said but then he felt someone grab him roughly from behind and another thug punch him hard in the stomach, the move winding him and making him breathless. He was let go of, falling to the floor, to his knees, his breathing in short pants as he looked up through his hair as he saw Seijuurou now in front of him, smiling.

“He’s our guarantee. Don’t want you skipping, right?”

And with that, Rin’s head snapped painfully to the side when his old “friend” punched him across the face, his teeth biting down on his lower lip hard and tasting blood. He looked up angrily to see the men leaving from the back exit, his heart heaving when he saw Haru with the gun at his back, him glancing back to Rin out of concern once before he was shoved hard in the other direction.

Rin mouthed, “it’ll be okay” as their eyes connected, and it would be. Rin would make sure of that.


	15. The Firefight

Seeing Rin had been a relief, just seeing that he had come for him and wanted to save him had made Haru feel more wanted than he had for a long time. Since before his parents died. He had lived his life alone for so damn long, wrapping himself up in his paintings and ignoring his feelings. And now that Rin had brought some of them out - he wanted to know he mattered to Rin. Even if Rin was some badass gangster.

The blade at his throat had nicked his skin, a small mark there as Haru waited in Rin’s office. He’d only been in briefly before, only seen a small amount of it and now he had been stuck in there for hours. He had been joined by Rin’s silver haired assistant, Nitori, as it seemed he was loyal to Rin to the last. Haru had overheard a conversation through the doors about whether Nitori would work for the bastard and he had stood his ground saying he never would. It had earned him a swift punch to the face, the smack of flesh heard even in the room Haru was, and Nitori had come in bleeding, Haru helping him with some tissues procured from Rin’s desk.

They’d talked a little, but Haru was too anxious for conversation despite the fact Nitori wasn’t, and right now he was glad of the complete silence as the other guy was asleep on Rin’s couch.

It was the best thing he could do, Haru supposed, instead of being like him – anxiously pacing, sitting for a few seconds before continuing his pacing.

He wasn’t bound this time – glad considering he had rope burns from the last time, after his escape when they left the coffee shop. But now he had nowhere to go. He was on the top floor of a very high building with only two exits. Out of the door or out of the window. And the window was impossible so Haru was trapped.

He spent the day worrying about Rin after having seen him bloody and bruised on the floor, but he set that aside, wondering too whether Makoto was searching for him, knowing what his friend would be contacting the police, but what chances did the police have when confronted with a gangster?

The door opened heavily, slammed with force, and Haru looked up, stopped his pacing as it was finally time and one of the thugs came to collect him. This time it wasn’t rope that was secured around his wrists but handcuffs, the metal clicking as the man pulled his hands roughly behind his back and secured them.

“Show time,” the man whispered and Haru bit back an angry remark.

Anger and resistance had been met with punches across the face. Haru didn’t want that again.

With heavy hands, Haru was pushed down the corridor, his mind thinking back to their time on the roof, their lunch, their swim, their race. And it made him realise that Rin was what he needed. His teasing smirk, his perfect body, his intensity – while they were different, so damn different, they were equals, halves that became a whole together, a distorted reflection of the other in the shimmering water and that was why Haru belonged with Rin.

The journey to the stairs was not filled with anticipation, and he wasn’t surprised or awed when they arrived to the pool, as it was not bright glaring sunshine that Haru exited into, but a night sky that was filled with threatening grey clouds. He guessed rain would be appropriate for the night, and he wondered what it sounded like when it hammered against the glass above them. He didn’t wonder much more about that, his eyes scanning the pool and remembering the ecstasy they’d shared there, the memory now tainted by this as he saw Rin with the asshole who’d captured him, sat at the table they’d shared lunch at, papers spread out and Haru’s heart was beating too hard in his chest.

What did that mean...? Had Rin given up his business for _him?_

He met Rin’s eyes and Rin nodded in reassurance as Haru was brought to the table.

“So you’ll sign now you’ve seen your fuck buddy’s okay? Cute Matsuoka.”

Haru saw Rin grit his teeth. Saw him angrily take the pen he was offered, scrawling a signature on what looked like a contract. Once it was signed, it was snatched from Rin harshly and Haru was pushed towards Rin, hard, stumbling and nearly falling only to have Rin catch him, hold him for the first time since that night.

“You okay?” Rin asked, his eyes scanning Haru’s body as if looking for injuries and Haru shook his head in response as he saw Rin’s eyes turn to the flame haired man, his eyes suddenly fierce, his expression violent – this was “the Shark” – not the Rin Haru knew, and he suddenly realised why some people were afraid. “The key.”

The words were not threatening, but the way they were said was with such venom that Haru almost shivered. He knew he should be scared, knew that Rin had been a powerful guy, but he also knew a different Rin. His Rin. And shit, he didn’t care if he attacked the guy with an arrogant smile, as he deserved it.

“You want the key, shark? Fish for it.”

With that, the guy threw the key to the handcuffs into the pool and it made an audible splash as it fell under the surface. Haru felt Rin want to attack, want to slam his fist into the guys face, but he merely growled low under his breath as they both watched him and his guards leave the roof terrace.

“And Matsuoka… don’t fuck in _my_ pool.”

Rin had been calm up to that point, angry, yes, but this was when Haru saw the side of him that had remained hidden, the latent violence under the surface, as he propelled himself towards the guy, his body connecting with him and sending him sprawling heavily to the floor, the sound of two heavy hard bodies hitting the surface reverberating around the glass room. Haru looked up as he heard a splatter, the rain starting and then back to the fight as he saw Rin punch the guy hard, a loud grunt of pain heard above those splashes. The thugs pointed weapons and were attempting to approach when Haru saw Rin realise that he would be outnumbered and outgunned and suddenly he was rolling them over with his powerful body until they fell together into the water.

Haru watched, anxious as he saw splashing and arms waving and he was afraid what would happen but then his eyes flicked to the door that led to the pool and his eyes met those of Rin’s “driver”. And he wasn’t alone.

Even though Haru had never been in a firefight or in any dangerous situation, he still had the instincts to duck when the gunfire started, falling to the floor and tucking his head down as glass shattered and rain began to drench him. Haru looked up through rain soaked bangs, unable to figure out who was winning, if people were dying, and what was happening. All he could do was hide and watch the action unfolding in front of him.

If the movies he’d watched with Makoto told him anything, it was that firefights were impressive and men died with one simple shot, but being in the middle of one told Haru nothing. He only knew it was over when he felt a hand on his shoulder, helping him to his feet, and he saw a very wet Rin smiling at him as he handed over the key to Sousuke, who undid Haru’s cuffs.

“You okay?” Rin asked as Haru moved his hands for the first time in what seemed for so damn long, stretching his fingers a few times.

“Did you kill them?”

“Naw…” Rin said with a smirk and he inclined his head so that Haru could see the captive men kneeling on the floor, guns pointed at their heads and hands bound. A few were bloody – especially the asshole who was in charge but none were dead. “We need to talk to them… I’m leaving the business in Sousuke’s care. He’ll be worse than me.”

Haru’s brow knitted together. “It’s _yours…_ ” Haru said, remembering what Rin had said.

“Yeah but it nearly got you killed. I need a break.”

“A break?”

Rin smirked, brushing their lips together, the kiss gentle and Haru felt himself wanting more. And despite the fact they’d just met, he wrapped his arms around Rin’s neck, feeling the pain in his wrists as he did, deepening their kiss. He didn’t care there was rain, that there were some cuts on his skin due to the smashed glass and that Rin was soaking wet – it didn’t matter, as Haru was _feeling_ and he wanted to feel. He wanted to lay the grief of his parents aside and move on. With Rin. Even if it wasn’t forever… it didn’t matter, Rin was what he wanted.

“You ever been to Paris?” Rin asked when their lips parted.

“No.”

“Good.”

And with that, they kissed once more, deeply on the roof of Rin’s business with the smell of gun powder residue, the feel of rain and the sound of crushed glass underneath their feet.


	16. Epilogue - A Night in Paris

The large window looked out over the roofs of Paris, the glittering night lights spread out in front of Rin’s eyes. He’d woken up to the sound of rain, looking out at the glimmering streets, the Eiffel Tower visible in the distance and was smiling as he drank a cup of tea, stood watching out as the rain thudded against the glass.

It had been a month since Seijuurou’s attempted take-over. Before he’d met Haru, he would’ve just killed the man – shot him point blank in the head without a care but now… he maybe didn’t want to be the vicious shark again.

He sensed movement and heard the padding of feet but he didn’t bother turning as he felt the peace of watching the rain fall. He’d given Sousuke control, trusting his bodyguard and friend more than Seijuurou. He smirked when he thought about his old partner… His old partner who had ended up being delivered to the police – tied up and with enough evidence for him to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Rin thought that was punishment enough.

And while he’d left his business, his club, his warehouse, his coffee shop to Gou – he was still in charge but he didn’t want to think about it. Only wanted to think about his new life with Haru.

“You’re awake,” he heard as Haru came behind him, wrapped his arms around Rin’s bare waist, his head leaning on his shoulder.

“I wanted to watch the rain.”

He felt Haru’s lips kiss at his shoulder and Rin leaned back into his warm perfect body as Haru caressed his skin. Haru’s hand moved to the newly healed tattoo, Rin looking at where Haru’s fingers touched it.

The shark, the shark that had been an aggressive piece, stark and all black, outlines had been added, covered over and now his arm was a sleeve that Haru had drawn for him, designed for him. The expense of his arm was now covered by rolling waves, by sakura petals mingling and now the shark was coloured in gentle grey hues, blending into the water and foam on his arm. It was a peaceful image. Fucking beautiful. And only Haru had the talent to draw it

“I’ll come back to bed soon,” Rin said, turning his head to smirk at Haru who nodded, kissing at his shoulder and walking to the kitchen to get something to drink.

Rin watched him, smiling at his barely clothed lover, walking around in those tight boxer briefs, before he turned back to the window and finished his remaining sips of tea.

He thought he’d regret leaving his company. Regret not having that power and control. Not having his suits and his office, his guns and his Maserati, going to Sharkbait to watch people dance and nearly fuck on the dance floor… Rin thought he would, but he didn’t.

Instead, he had lazy days fucking around in bed, he had days walking the streets of Paris, stopping in bistros and visiting galleries and museums to see Haru smile that small little smile that was too damn cute. Not that he’d tell Haru he found it cute. Or admit it to himself. But he had something better, different, simpler. He loved to watch Haru draw and paint and not think about the violence or the money. It was a damn relief.

He sighed. As yeah, this was life. He hadn’t been happy despite the expensive apartment, the shark tanks, and the power but now, Rin was.

After finishing his cup, he dropped it in the small kitchen of their apartment and walked through the darkened rooms back to their bed. Haru was sat up, a low lamp on and his sketch pad on his knee and Rin crawled up beside him, looking to see the image of himself sketched. His back, his tattoo, his hair in its small ponytail, and Rin moved behind Haru, kissing at his cheek and smiling into his skin.

“You always make me look hot,” he murmured, brushing a strand of Haru’s hair.

“It’s how I see you.”

And with that, Haru put down the sketch pad and turned to face Rin, pushing him to the bed with more force than he anticipated. Smirking, Rin quirked an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“Yes,” Haru answered, pressing their lips together in a kiss that felt electric, and Rin surrendered into it as he felt Haru run his fingers over his new tattoo, the new ink covering the old and his new life replacing the one he used to have.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's complete. I'd like to thank the people who read this and stayed along for the ride. Also a massive thanks to thora-hathi for letting me write this and Karratran for beta-ing. 
> 
> My real life has become a bit chaotic so if I don't get time to personally respond to every comment, I'd just like to say that I really appreciate people taking the time out to say something about my writing. It means a lot.

**Author's Note:**

> Art here - http://thora-hathi.tumblr.com/post/85055338512/rin-haru-gangster-au-once-again-sorry


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